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 36
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Daylight of September 22nd saw the army disposed in a line covering the town, from the river above to the river below. The rebels followed closely, but only skirmish lines showed themselves. The Union soldiers fell to with picksand shovels and axes ; and for a week they did little but dig and go on picket. There was no repetition of the grumbling heard at Murfreesboro. With fifty thousand yelling rebels investing the town, the boys thought
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THE CONFEDERATES INVEST CHATTANOOGA.
[October,
it would be very comforting to have heavy forts and breastworks behind which to stand, and they toiled day and night without a murmur. Had Bragg pushed his whole army at the heels of Thomas, he might, perhaps, have retaken Chattanooga, but he would have had to pay a heavy price for it. He halted at Mis- sionary ridge and it was then too late. The defensive works grew like Jonah's gourd and the place was made so strong as to defy assault.
The Sixty-fifth having been deprived of its field officers by the disablement of Lieutenant-colonel Whitbeck and the death of Major Brown, Lieutenant-colonel William A. Bullitt, of the Third Kentucky, was assigned to its temporary command. He con- tinued to ride at the head of that regiment for nearly five months. He was a thorough soldier and a cultured gentleman, and he be- came greatly endeared to both officers and men. His conspicuous courage and capacity for command challenged their admiration, while his engaging manners and unvarying courtesy won their warmest personal regard. To this day "the boys" have the kindest recollections of Colonel Bullitt.
The Confederates occupied Missionary Ridge and Lookout mountain, planting at all available points batteries of heavy guns, which were at times exceedingly annoying. What was still more exasperating, they secured possession of both the river and the railroad, and thus completely cut off the lines o' supply for the Union army. Jefferson Davis visited the rebel camp, and in a speech to the soldiers assured them that the army of Rosecrans was their legitimate prey, and that in a few days it would be either starved into surrender or compelled to fight its way out.
It cannot be denied that for a time things looked "squally." The soldiers were very soon put on half rations, and not long after- ward this scanty allowance was cut in twain and they received daily but the meager pittance of quarter rations.
How to sustain the army became a serious question. Sup- plies could only be obtained from Bridgeport. The direct wagon road-as well as the river and the railroad-was effectually blockaded by the enemy. The only route open was a circuitous one, nearly sixty miles in length, by way of the Sequatchie valley and crossing Waldron's ridge. The road through this rough,
445
1863.]
PRECARIOUS MEANS OF SUPPLY.
mountainous region was about as bad as it could be, while the attacks of bodies of rebel cavalry rendered the transportation of stores as dangerous as it was difficult and uncertain. General Wheeler was exceedingly active in harassing the trains. On one of his forays he captured and burned four hundred wagons and drove off two thousand mules. During the early days of the siege, partially successful attempts were made to use the short route, passing near the point of Lookout mountain, but this had to be abandoned on account of the annoyance from Confederate sharpshooters. By one of these, on the 8th of October, George M. Mankin, a teamster belonging to Company B, Sixty-fifth, was killed.
Five or six days after the battle, a train of several hundred wagons was sent to Bridgeport for supplies. It was guarded by a strong infantry escort, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Robert C. Brown, of the Sixty-fourth Ohio. Accompanying it were forty or fifty ambulances, and in these and in the wagons a large number of wounded men were carried, among them being the party mentioned at the close of the preceding chapter. They were anxious to escape from Chattanooga and were willing to take the chance of getting through. The train was in charge of Quartermaster Tip S. Marvin of the Sixty-fourth. It was men- aced by rebel cavalry at several points, but by the skillful maneu- vering of both Colonel Brown and Lieutenant Marvin, the perilous trip was made in safety both ways, these wagons taking to Chat- tanooga the first rations that were received after the battle. At one point were passed the ruins of a train, dispatched two or three days before, which had been captured and destroyed.
There was small opportunity for foraging to supplement the meager supplies of food for men and animals thus precariously obtained. To the northward, across the river, was a region of barren hills, which had long since been stripped of everything ed- .ible. It was infested by Confederate cavalry, which pounced with- out mercy upon any stray detachments of Union troops that went in quest of something to eke out their pitiful supply. To find even corn it was necessary to go long distances, thus increas- ing the hazard. On one occasion a number of wagons, with an escort under the command of Lieutenant Benjamin F. Trescott,
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446
THE BOYS WENT HUNGRY.
[October,
of the Sixty-fifth, traveled more than sixty miles, being absent five days. The train was fortunate in eluding the hostile cavalry and returned well loaded.
As the days and weeks wore on the supplies grew less and less. The soldiers became reduced to dire straits. They prigged ears of corn from the mules and horses and resorted to every pos- sible stratagem and device to obtain food. Hundreds, gaunt from hunger and worn by toil and watching, gave out entirely and thronged the hospitals, whence many were daily borne to the city of the dead.
JOSEPH P. WEIR, SERGEANT, COMPANY B, SIXTY-FIFTH.
In all this deprivation, labor and suffering, the of- ficers and men of Harker's brigade bravely and pa- tiently bore their part. Al- ways when the soldiers were compelled to undergo unnecessary hunger, ex- posure and fatigue, by rea- son of official blundering or incompetency, it was their habit to "cry aloud and spare not," but when it was unavoidable, as in this instance, they submitted with an uncomplaining pa- tience that was no less he- roic than their conduct in
battle. Harker's brigade was almost constantly at the front, per- forming its full share of picket duty and work upon the fortifica- tions. Many of the picket posts were exposed to great danger from the fire of the enemy. Skirmishing along the outer lines was almost incessant. There was scarcely a day or a night during which the men were not one or more times aroused by an alarm and summoned to the works, there to stand at arms, frequently for hours.
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447
1863.]
THE ARMY REORGANIZED.
The Sixth Ohio battery occupied an important and command- ing redoubt called Fort Wood, named after our "Tommy,", by whose division it was built. In this work, about one hundred and fifty feet square, were placed eighteen guns, varying in cali- ber from three-inch rifles to four-and-a-half-inch siege guns. Captain Bradley and his men frequently amused themselves by distributing shells along the Confederate picket line. On account of the great and increasing scarcity of forage, most of the artillery horses, as well as those of the cavalry, were sent by a devious route over the mountains to Stevenson, the necessary men ac- companying them. Of the battery horses which remained, near- ly all died. The number of mouths to be fed was reduced as much as possible. Of the batteries, only men enough to work the guns remained in Chattanooga.
On the 9th of October the organization of the army was changed. In pursuance of orders from Washington, the Twenti- eth and Twenty-first corps were consolidated and the corps thus formed was christened the Fourth. General Gordon Granger was assigned to its command. Generals McCook and Crittenden were both relieved and sent to the rear, their conduct at Chickamauga -particularly in leaving the field at the crisis of the battle-hav- ing been deemed unsatisfactory. The divisions of the new Fourth corps were commanded, respectively, by Generals John M. Palmer, Philip H. Sheridan and Thomas J. Wood. In the shuf- fle our brigade, married to a brigade of the old Twentieth corps, became the Third of the Second division, which designation it re- tained till the close of the war. We lost Wood as our commander but gained Phil. Sheridan, to have served under whom isa source of pride to every soldier that he led on so many glorious fields. Under the new organization the brigades of the Fourth corps con- sisted of from eight to ten regiments each. Ours contained nine, viz :- Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth and One Hundred and Twenty- fifth Ohio; Third Kentucky: Twenty-second, Twenty-seventh, Forty-second, Fifty-first and Seventy-ninth Illinois. Colonel Harker was retained in command; there was no danger that so brave and capable a soldier as he would be superseded. The reg- iments were small, their average strength not exceeding two hun- dred and fifty men each for duty. The Illinois regiments with
448
THOMAS SUCCEEDS ROSECRANS.
[October,
which we thus became associated were composed of excellent ma terial, tempered in the fire of battle. The Fifty-first was com manded by Colonel Luther P. Bradley, a superb soldier, and the Seventy-ninth by Colonel Allen Buckner, a Methodist preacher with a voice like a fog-horn.
About the middle of November Lieutenant Baldwin, who had been sent to Ohio from Hillsboro, rejoined the battery, with twenty recruits. He succeeded in getting through several large boxes of good things from friends at home, after overcoming the greatest difficulties. For a few days the battery tables were gar- nished after the manner of a Sunday school picnic.
The dark cloud that enveloped the Army of the Cumberland began to show a silver lining when word was received, about the last of September, that the Eleventh and Twelfth corps, under General Hooker, had been detached from the Army of the Potomac and were on their way to Chattanooga, to re-inforce the Army of the Cumberland. They reached Bridgeport early in October and soon became an important factor in the problem. The transfer of these twenty-seven thousand men from Virginia, a distance of above twelve hundred miles, in seven days, affords a striking illustration of the value of the railroad in modern war- fare. It was also officially announced that General Sherman- "Uncle Billy"-had started for Chattanooga with several di- visions of the Army of the Tennessee, from Vicksburg and Memphis. All this greatly cheered the hearts of the pinched and hungry soldiers at Chattanooga. They knew that they would have to hang on but a little longer, when they would be able to arise, like Samson, and shake off the fetters that bound them.
General Rosecrans was relieved from the command of the army on the 19th of October, and was succeeded by "Old Pap" Thomas. It was with deep regret that the army parted with "Old Rosey," for lie was greatly endeared to his soldiers. But they had boundless admiration for Thomas, and confidence in his ability to lead them to victory. Though sometimes slow, he was always safe and sure.
During the last days of October the bacon and cracker ques- tion was happily solved. A large detail from Hazen's brigade, floated down the river in pontoon boats, in the night, from Chatta-
1863.]
449
A GOOD REASON FOR YELLING.
nooga to Brown's ferry and effected a lodgment on the south bank. A force which had marched down on the north side was quickly ferried over, and the point was made secure before the rebels had recovered from their surprise at the audacity of the movement. General "Joe" Hooker now appeared upon the scene with his troops from the east. He established himself in Look- out valley, successfully resisting all the efforts of the rebels to dislodge him. By this operation the blockade of the river to Bridgeport was effectually raised. The next day a steamboat loaded with ra- tions for the Union army arrived from that place. The loud and prolonged shouts and yells which greeted the whistle of the boat were never exceeded in fervency and volume by - any of the previous or subsequent vocal efforts of that army-and this is say- ing a good deal. In a few days supplies were abun- dant and the soldiers once more reveled in the luxury of full rations. The direct wagon road to Bridgeport was reopened, and by reason of the presence of Hooker's NATHANIEL M'D. COE, SERGEANT, COMPANY E, SIXTY-FOURTH. troops, supply trains were reasonably secure against molestation.
The 13th of October was "election day" for Ohio soldiers. It was the first time they exercised the right of suffrage under the law which permitted soldiers in the field to vote. The voting was conducted in the same manner as elections at home. All interest was centered in the contest for governor, between John Brough and Clement L. Vallandigham. The voice of the soldiers was nearly unanimous for Brough. Vallandigham received two votes (29)
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450
OLD PETER AS A RECRUITING OFFICER.
[November,
in the Sixty-fourth and eleven in the Sixty-fifth. Most of the boys were at a loss to understand why any soldier should vote for him, though none questioned his inalienable right to do so if he chose.
About this time the United States government began in the Department of the Cumberland the enlistment of colored soldiers. As elsewhere, they were organized into regiments entirely distinct and separate from the white troops, and were officered solely by whites. The races would not mix, any more than will oil and water.
Adjutant Woodruff writes: "During our unwilling and pro- tracted fast at Chattanooga, the line officers of the Sixty-fourth or- ganized a common mess for cooking and conserving their meager allowance for subsistence. For their convenience they built a rude structure from material picked up all over the camp. A pious old darkey by the name of Peter, who assisted in this offi- cial restaurant, conceived the idea of taking the lead among his colored brethren in enlisting in our army. He obtained the use of the aforesaid restaurant to hold a meeting to fire their loyal hearts. A score or more responded. When old Pete marched them inside and opened the exercises, some of our boys outside the hall listened and reported the substance of the orator's open- ing remarks, which were as follows:
"'My dear brederen, you see de white sogers is fitin' to make us free. I want you-all to put yo' shoulder to de wheel and h'ep 'um-but we mus' ax de Lawd to he'p, too. So we'll begin dis' meetin' by singin' dat good old hymn, "Hark frum de tombs a doleful soun'.'
"All voices joined heartily till they reached the last part of the verse-
'Ye livin' men come view de groun', Whar you-uns must sho'tly lie '
"These words must have been too suggestive, for it was never recorded that they did much to open the cracker line, or carry 'Old Glory' up Missionary Ridge."
On November 13th was witnessed a sad scene, typical of the severe and inexorable character of the laws of war. Sheridan's entire division was marshaled, forming three sides of a hollow square, to witness the execution of two deserters, by shooting.
451
1863.]
TWO MEN SHOT FOR DESERTION.
They were not members of Harker's brigade. One of them had enlisted, after desertion, in the Confederate army and had been captured. The condenined men were marched around the interior of the square, with a guard of soldiers, to the music of the "Dead March." One of the culprits was so overcome in the face of death that his limbs tottered and he was scarcely able to walk without assistance. The other put on a bold front, determined to "die game." He saluted the officers as he passed along the lines and when, without a tremor, he knelt upon his coffin and the bandage was tied over . his eyes, he placed his hand upon his left breast and said to the executioners, in a firm voice, "Aim right here !" The firing squads did their work well, both of the wretched men being instantly killed. When this unpleasant duty must be performed it is merciful to fire with certain aim. In a squad detailed to execute the death penalty upon a comrade, there is always one musket loaded with a blank cartridge, so that each mem- ber of the party may hope that he has the harmless DAVID WALTER, FIRST SERGEANT, COMPANY I, AND SECOND LIEUTENANT, SIXTY-FIFTH. weapon.
On the 16th of November a paymaster captured Harker's brigade and stuffed four months' pay into the pockets of the soldiers. After the road to Bridgeport was opened, a few brave sutlers crept up to the front and it may easily be imagined that after the visit of the paymaster they reaped a rich harvest.
An incident of the Chickamauga field may be told here. During the engagement Henry Shewey, of the Sixth battery, lost a diary, which had been carefully kept fromJanuary 11th, 1863
452
GENERAL GRANT IN THE SADDLE.
[November,
to September 16th, 1863. It was taken from the pocket of a dead Confederate, by a soldier of Company G, Forty-ninth Ohio, and remained in his possession for twenty-six years. He then, in 1890, gave it to Thomas G. Watkins, of the battery, by whom it was sent to the widow of Shewey. It is not difficult to imagine how highly this memento is prized.
At the time that General Rosecrans was relieved, an order was issued from the War Department creating the "Military Division of the Mississippi," in which was included the Department of the Cumberland, and assigning to its command General Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of Donelson and Vicksburg. Grant at once started for Chattanooga to personally direct operations. He dis- patched to Thomas: "Hold Chattanooga at all hazards !" and the sturdy Thomas answered: "We will hold the town till we starve !" The Army of the Cumberland was not at any time so confined that it could not have escaped by crossing the river and retreating to the northward, but it was determined not to give up blood-bought Chattanooga, and the army clung to it until succor came, with a tenacity unsurpassed in the history of the war.
General Grant was received by the army with the largest en- thusiasm and cordiality. Wherever he appeared he was greeted with salvos of cheers. He immediately betook himself to the task of forcing Bragg from the position that made things so un- comfortable for the army in Chattanooga. By the 20th of No- vember General Sherman had arrived with twelve thousand men. Hooker had his two corps well in hand, and a plan of operations was rapidly matured. Symptoms of activity were everywhere apparent. The soldiers were ordered to keep their haversacks full, each man to have eighty rounds of cartridge, and all to hold themselves in readiness for instantaneous movement.
1863.]
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CHAPTER XLII.
MISSIONARY RIDGE.
SHERMAN'S EFFORT TO BREAK THE CONFEDERATE RIGHT-THE "BAT- TLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS"-ORCHARD KNOB TAKEN-FOUR DIVISIONS OF THOMAS SWEEP MISSIONARY RIDGE-A MAGNIFICENT ASSAULT -SHERIDAN AND HARKER-THE CREST CARRIED-ROUT OF THE REBELS-CHICKAMAUGA IS AVENGED-SHERIDAN'S PURSUIT-A VICTORY WON BY THE RANK AND FILE-OUR LOSSES-GRANT AND THOMAS ON ORCHARD KNOB-GREWSOME SIGHTS ON THE FIELD.
0 PERATIONS were begun on the 23rd of November, by an attempt to dislodge the enemy from the north end of Missionary ridge, next the river. This effort was made by General Sherman, operating from the extreme Union
left. In his "Memoirs," (Vol. I, page 362), General Sherman says :
General Grant explained to me that the men of Thomas's army had ยท been so demoralized by the battle of Chickamauga that he feared they could not be got out of their trenches to assume the offensive; * * * that he wanted my troops to hurry up and take the offensive first, after which he had no doubt the Cumberland army would fight well.
It is more than likely that events which occurred very soon
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BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE.
[November,
thereafter caused General Grant to revise his opinion, that Thom- as's soldiers would cower timidly in their trenches and that they "could not be got out to assume the offensive." Sherman went in, but he could not overcome the obstacles presented and failed to carry the ridge.
On the 24th General Hooker fought that brilliantly success- ful action celebrated in song and story as the "Battle above the Clouds," by which he hurled the Confederates from Lookout mountain. Dawn of the 25th disclosed the stars and stripes floating from the point of the mountain, evoking prodigious cheers from the beleagured army. During the 24th and the fore- noon of the 25th Sherman kept hammering away at the Confed- erate right, but inade little progress against the very heavy force which Bragg had massed to oppose him and to secure the men- aced flank.
Meanwhile Thomas had not been idle. On the 23rd Wood's division, Sheridan's supporting, was directed to advance and de- velop the enemy in front of the center. At the word the men leaped nimbly over the intrenchments, without a sign of the demoralization which General Grant had imagined to exist among "the men of Thomas's army." As Colonel Robert C. Brown, of the Sixty-fourth happily expressed it: "What a relief it was to get out of our old works where we had stood, like cattle in a stall, for two months !" With the greatest gallantry, Wood's soldiers swept forward like a tornado, driving the rebels before them, and seizing Orchard Knob, a high elevation half a mile in front of the Union works. The entire Fourth corps and part of the Fourteenth-portions of the latter being with Sherman and Hooker-moved out to the advanced line and firmly held it.
On the 25th the four divisions of Johnson, Sheridan, Wood and Baird formed in line from right to left in the order named. They were ordered to advance at the signal and take the rifle-pits skirting the base of Missionary Ridge. At four o'clock the signal was given-six guns in quick succession fired from Orchard Knob. Grandly the line moved forward over the intervening space, in the teeth of a biting fire of musketry from the rebel works at the base, and a shower of shells from the artillery upon the crest of the ridge. There was no wavering or halting for an instant.
[863.]
RIGHT UP THE STEEP ACCLIVITY.
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They quickly overran the rifle-pits, killing or capturing such of their defenders as had not fled in panic to the shelter of the main line of intrenchments upon the summit.
The soldiers had gone to the limit of their orders; what should be done next? It must be one of three things-retreat, remain where they were, or go forward-which should it be ? The men with muskets answered the question for themselves. They would not retreat ; they could not stay at the base without being exposed to a deadly plunging fire from the ridge. By a com- mon inspiration they went -forward ! Color-bearers sprang to the front and the men eagerly followed with loud cheers. Riglit up the steep ridge they clambered, undeterred by a thought of the desperate nature of the assault. And it had the sanction of no official order ! Some of tlte generals, fear- ir.g the result, endeavored to recall their troops, but nothing could stay the im- petuous rush of those "de- moralized" men, who, Grant HENRY C. PARR, FIRST SERGEANT, CO. E, SIXTY-FOURTH. Killed at Rocky Face Ridge, May 9th, 1861. feared, would not fight. Finding it impossible to check the ardor of the soldiers, the officers joined in the charge, springing to the front of their divisions, brigades and regiments, and striving to outdo the men in their zeal and courage. Both Sheridan and Harker were conspicuous, cheering and animating the soldiers by their own frantic enthusiasmn. The fire of the enemy was terrific and destructive, but the assailants faltered not. The cannon upon the crest could not be depressed sufficiently to sweep the hill, but the rebel gunners ignited shells with short fuses
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456
BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE.
[November.
and threw them over to burst as they rolled down. Harker's brigade went up directly in the teeth of a rebel battery. At first the guns did much execution, many officers and men being killed or wounded by grape and canister. The brigade kept on up the ridge and was soon comparatively well covered from the artil- lery fire.
On and still on, until the crest was reached. Over the works the assailants leaped, into the very blaze of the hostile muskets. The line was pierced in half a dozen places almost at the same in- stant. Such valor could not be withstood. Instantly the Confed- erate line began to crumble. A few minutes more and thousands were fleeing in panic and rout. Other thousands threw down their arms and surrendered. Regiments were captured almost en- tire, and battery after battery was taken.
Harker's brigade rolled over the works directly at the head- quarters of General Bragg. The latter, with several of his staff and subordinate commanders, barely escaped capture. Five guns of a battery were seized in an instant. Colonel Harker leaped astride one of the cannon, swinging his sword with one hand and his hat with the other, shouting like one demented. In fact "Thomas's soldiers" seemed an army of lunatics. Every man was in a paroxysm of jubilant enthusiasm. Chickamauga was avenged !
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