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 7
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The march was slow, to favor the men as much as possible. Our speed was scarcely more than two miles an hour, and fre- quent halts were made for rest. Yet it was more than most of the men, with their loads of from forty to sixty pounds each, could endure. Large numbers dropped out by the wayside, notwith-
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TESTAMENTS GO OVERBOARD.
[December,
standing the orders against straggling, and many did not reach camp till hours after dark.
At four o'clock we turned into a field, weary and footsore, and were ordered to pitch camp. Scores threw themselves upon the ground, completely exhausted, caring nothing for tent, fire or food, and only wanting to rest. Others, with better self-command, stirred around, pitched the tents, built fires, and made preparations for supper. There was a large straw-stack near the camp, which was a great temptation to the soldiers. Confiscation was, how- ever, as yet unknown. Every citizen claimed to be loyal when- ever his property was threatened, and the strictest orders were is- sued against trespassing in any way. But the quartermaster was told to get the straw, giving a receipt to the owner, and after some little parleying we were permitted to "go in." In five minutes that stack had entirely disappeared. Supper and a few hours of rest had a reviving effect, and good cheer prevailed around the camp-fires. But when those whose "turn" it was were detailed for guard duty that night the grumbling was loud and deep. I believe Job would have "kicked" had he been one of them.
Reveille beat at five and we were ordered to march at seven. Breakfast was soon disposed of, and then each man addressed him- self to the task of reducing the weight of his knapsack. Books, articles of clothing, and odds and ends of all sorts were considered for a moment and then flung aside. Scores threw away the testa- ments the chaplain had given them at Camp Buckingham. Bibles and blisters didn't go well together. Chaplain Burns felt in duty bound to remonstrate with the boys for such reprehensible con- duct, but the fact that he had a horse to ride detracted somewhat from the value of his reproof.
"I don't believe he'd lug many bibles," said one, "if he had to hoof it 'long with the rest of us!"
When we marched away it looked as if a cyclone had caught up half a dozen notion stores and dumped their contents promiscu- ously in that field. It is no exaggeration to say that two or three wagon loads could have been gathered. In fact they were, by the people, of all ages and colors, who tools possession of the field up- on our evacuation. Many, when discarding their superfluous
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1861.]
IT WAS HARD WORK.
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articles, threw them directly into the fire, sharing the sentiment of the man who destroyed his quilt the day before.
Everybody started on the second day's march feeling about twenty years older than when he left Louisville. Joints were stiff and seemed fairly to creak as we put ourselves in motion. This passed off as we warmed up, loads were very perceptibly lighter than before, and the first half of the day's travel was gone over, with head erect, and elastic step.
The march was four miles longer than that of the previous day. During the afternoon the aching and limping and groaning were even worse than before. The boys seemed to "go to pieces" all at once. We finally reached the camping ground, in a driving snow-storm. Before our tents were up the snow was two or three inches deep. Abundance of straw was again provided by the quartermaster and we passed the night with a fair degree of comfort.
On the morning of the third day the regiment was very sore . of foot and stiff of limb. : A second and more careful inventory of the contents of the knapsacks was taken, and fully another wagon load of "traps" were cast aside. The sun shone brightly, the snow soon melted and the day was so warm as to be uncomfort- able. We made fifteen miles, but there was much straggling, and the ambulances and wagons were again loaded to their ut- mo it capacity with men and baggage. We went into camp near Bardstown, in the fair grounds of Nelson county. The Sixty- fourth awaited us there, having arrived the night before. Most of them were lying around nursing their aches and blisters. Like ourselves, they didn't seem to have much interest in any- thing that was going on around them. We had all learned that "Lugging knapsack, box and gun Was harder work than farming."
There was no overwhelming display of loyalty or enthusiasm along the line of our march from Louisville. Soldiers were yet a novelty, and at every farmhouse and cross-road the people turned out to see the regiment pass. There were few demonstrations of welcome except by the negroes, who, at this early day in the war evidently had an idea that they were what the trouble was all about-that while the north and south were shaking the tree so vigorously, they would get the fruit.
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ALEXANDER CASSIL. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, SIXTY-FIFTH.
1861.]
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DISMAL DAYS AT BARDSTOWN:
December 30th both regiments broke camp, marched through Bardstown and three miles south of that place, where we found a large number of troops already encamiped. It was a "camp of instruction," with constant drilling, and all that the name im- plies. It was named "Camp Morton," in honor of the Governor of Indiana. General Thomas J. Wood was in charge. Subse- quently he became very familiarly known to us as "Tommy" Wood, as he rode at the head of the Sixth division, part of which we became.
There is but little in connection with our stay of two weeks at Bardstown that need enter into this narrative. In fact I might almost condense it into two words-drill and diarrhea-and then pass on to Lebanon. The weather was of all sorts. There was a good deal of rain, a little snow, and a few pleasant, sunshiny days sandwiched between the showers. We had plenty of mud, but it was neither so deep nor so exasperatingly sticky as that at Lonis- ville. The protracted struggle to adjust our internal organisms to army rations was continued here. Feeble efforts were made to supply us with soft bread, but it was sodden and sour, and in every way unpalatable. Perhaps this was done to reconcile us to the hardtack. If so the scheme was in a good degree successful. Flour and corn meal were issued to us in considerable quantities, and the mess-cooks concocted all manner of "flapjacks" and doughy substances which they called bread. It was this stuff that proved so unhealthy for the troops, and caused such a prev- alence of bowel complaints that at times fully half were unfit for duty. At sick-call the pale, cadaverous men tottered up to the hospital tent, almost by whole companies. We were not long in learning that hardtack was the most wholesome form of bread, and after that we never wanted any more flour. We used it some- times, but it was only when we could not get anything else. By the time we left Bardstown we had suppressed all our rebellious feelings, and had fully surrendered to the diet prescribed in the army regulations.
One day while the regiment was upon a flour diet Lieutenant Johnston Armstrong, then commanding Company B, Sixty- fifth, "treated" the company to soft bread. He sent to town and bought, on his own account, a day's supply for the boys. It was (6)
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FORMATION OF THE TWENTIETH BRIGADE.
[January,
a novel feast, but it was highly appreciated, and the members of Company B never forgot this act of Lieutenant Armstrong.
While at Bardstown Company B, Sixty-fifth lost one of its best men, -Corporal Thomas McGowan, who died of disease. He was in all respects a most excellent soldier and worthy citizen and his early death was sincerely mourned by his comrades. His home was a short distance north of Alliance, where his friends still live.
New Year's Day passed with us very much as did Christmas. With such surroundings there was a cruel sarcasm in wishing one another "a happy New Year," and this social formality was only observed to a very limited extent. Regular drills began'on that day. Here might be seen a company exercising in the man- ual of arms; yonder one deployed as skirmishers, bravely striving to dislodge an unseen enemy from behind a rail fence; another loading and firing-making the motions-as if for dear life, stand- ing, kneeling, and lying; still another, with triumphant shouts, charging with fixed bayonets upon an imaginary intrenchment. Battalion drill once each day, dress parade in the evening and the routine of camp duties filled well the time. One pleasant day we were excused from further duty after the morning drill, and ordered to make it a "wash day," for clothing and the person- and both had need of it. As Mrs. Grundy would say, we were not "at home" that day. The little stream that ran near the camp was lined on both sides with soldiers in all stages of disha- bille, splashing and scrubbing with great energy, while hundreds of kettles were brought into requisition for the cleansing of under- clothing. Then we would use the same kettles in which to make coffee and bean-soup. During the last few days of our stay hard- tack took the place of flour, the weather was bright and pleasant, and the health of the command showed a very marked improve- ment.
On the 14th of January we broke camp and started for Lebanon. Just before marching an order was read declaring the formation of the Twentieth Brigade, Army of the Ohio. It con- sisted of the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Ohio, Fifty-first Indiana and Nineteenth Kentucky regiments. General Wood was as- signed to its command. The Fifty-first Indiana was then with us
1862.]
GLAD TO LEAVE CAMP MORTON.
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at Bardstown. The Nineteenth Kentucky was near Stanford, whither we were tending.
At eight o'clock the three regiments formed and passed for the last time the confines of Camp Morton. No ties of attachment bound us to the place, and we left it without a pang of regret. It was not a good day for marching. The sun shone brightly in the morning, but before noon dark clouds overspread the sky, the air became keenly cold, and snow began to sift down upon us. In consequence of the extreme inclemency of the weather we camped early, after a march of nine miles. We raided a straw stack with great zeal, orders to the contrary notwith- standing. A young negro ventured to remonstrate, telling us we had better "leff be dat ar straw." We told him we only wanted to borrow it for the night, but as we would be busy in the morning he could tell his master that he might come over and gather it up. We did not propose to lie in the snow as long as straw could be had. A strict embargo was laid upon the fences, but under cover of the storm and darkness a good many WILLIAM H. FARBER, CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FOURTH. rails were smuggled into camp and furtively hidden away in the tents for fuel, whence they were brought forth as they were needed.
The next day we tramped through snow in the morning and slush in the afternoon, fourteen miles, camping at Springfield. The feature of the evening was the charge of half the brigade, the instant arms were stacked, upon an immense heap of straw. The charge was led by Chaplain Burns, who was the first man to mount the pile. Colonel Harker dashed to and fro in a state of
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ARRIVAL AT LEBANON.
[January,
unusual excitement, ordering the men to desist, reminding them that they were disobeying the most positive and peremptory orders. But the tide could not be stayed. It was too large a crowd to arrest. So the colonel gave it up, and riding back, laughing heartily, he told those who had not joined in the raid that if they wanted any straw they had better hurry up and get it. They all went, and two thousand men were soon trailing to -. ward camp, each with as much straw as he could carry.
Just before dark a small party, having obtained permission to be absent for a short time, took a stroll and were invited into the house of a wealthy farmer. He entertained us with the utmost cordiality, insisting upon our staying to supper, which he ordered Dinah to prepare immediately. He had a charming daughter of about eighteen, who sat engaged upon a bit of crochet work, tak- ing an active part in the conversation. It was probably her pres- ence, as much as the promise of a good supper, that prolonged our stay. We hadn't been as close as that to a pretty girl for two months, and it gave us something to think and talk about for a week.
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The third "heat" of this march was the most trying we had yet experienced. A cold rain, which a high wind drove furiously into our faces, fell continuously, and we were drenched to the skin. We reached Lebanon by the middle of the afternoon, and went into camp a mile west of the town. The rain was still fall- ing, we were thoroughly benumbed, and the ground was covered with water and mud. Other troops had but recently camped upon the spot and there were no fences or straw in sight. We were obliged to fell trees for fuel, and the kindling of fires with wet, green wood was sorry work. Lying upon the limbs of trees to keep our blankets out of the mud, we passed a wretched night indeed. Private Keefer, of Company K, Sixty-fifth, died during the night from the effects of the exposure. In the morning the ground was frozen hard, and ourselves were in much the same condition. Our stay was limited to four days and we were glad when marching orders came. The camp at Lebanon was an ex- cellent place to get away from.
Early in January, Quartermaster Lorenzo D. Myers, of the Sixty-fourth, severed his connection with that regiment, having
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A CHANGE OF QUARTERMASTER.
1862.]
been commissioned by the President as captain and assistant quar- termaster. In this capacity he served nearly three years, with marked ability, as division quartermaster, on the staff of General Wood. Lieutenant Tip S. Marvin was appointed regimental quartermaster, the duties of which position he discharged for three years. His genial disposition, not less than his faithfulness to duty, made him universally popular, not only in the regiment but in the entire circle of his army acquaintance.
CHAPTER VI.
HALL'S GAP AND ITS MUDDY HORRORS.
SITTING DOWN IN THE WILDERNESS-A FORTNIGHT OF RAIN AND MIRE -"ZOLLICOFFER IS DEAD."-WE BUILD A CORDUROY ROAD, OR TRY TO-A WAGON TRAIN STRIKES IT, WITH CALAMITOUS RESULTS -TRIBULATIONS OF THE MULE-DRIVERS, AND EVERYBODY ELSE- ONCE MORE ON TERRA FIRMA.
0 N THE 21st of January we took up our line of march for Hall's Gap, against which we have made a longer and blacker mark than against any other place that ever fell to our lot. We led off with a brisk march of fifteen miles. By this time we were beginning to get accustomed to the road, and marching had lost the terrors of our first experience. We en- camped at three in the afternoon and the tents were soon up-ex- cept those of Company E, Sixty-fifth. Hour after hour passed and night came, but there were no tidings of its wagon. It final- ly arrived about nine o'clock, but with its contents in a greatly damaged condition. It appeared that old John Bumbaugh had
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SOMETHING TO CHEER OVER.
[January,
procured a canteen of whisky and, giving way to his weakness, reached an advanced stage of inebriety. The mules, perhaps re- membering John's treatment of them at Louisville, thought it was a good chance to get even. They walked off the road and capsized the wagon down an embankment. A party of stragglers assisted in righting the vehicle. One of them climbed into the saddle as charioteer and drove the team to camp, John following behind on foot, like a dethroned king. Captain Whitbeck threat- ened to give him a gun and put him into the ranks, but he manifested so much con- trition and made such ve- hement promises that he "wouldn't do so no more," that his offense was over- looked.
Fifteen miles on the 22d brought us to Danville, the prettiest town we had yet seen. It appeared to be flavored with loyalty to an unusual degree. Union flags were flying from many buildings, public and pri- vate. Matrons and maid- ens smiled upon us and waved their kerchiefs as we passed. This inspired the brass bands and they blew patriotic airs with all the wind they could raise.
G. STANLEY POPE, SERGEANT-MAJOR, SIXTX-FIFTH.
When we reached our camping ground, before ranks were broken a dispatch was read announc- ing the victory of General Thomas, at Mill Springs, near Somer- set, over the rebels under Zollicoffer, tlie latter being among the killed. This news was received with great cheering. That evening Colonel Harker left for a short absence. During this march Colonel Forsyth was, at his own request, relieved from the command of the Sixty-fourth and had no further connection
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THE WILDERNESS AT "HELL'S GAP."
with it. The command of the regiment devolved upon Lieuten- ant-colonel Isaac Gass.
On the 23rd we reached Stanford and on the following day, ascending a very long hill, we were at Hall's Gap. A few days later the boys changed the first part of the name by substituting "e" for "a" and called it "Hell's Gap." Strictly speaking this was not quite correct, judged by the standard of the thermometer, for it was cold rather than heat that caused us so much discomfort, but the revised name fairly expressed the general feeling of dis- gust and it "went"-as everything did in the army.
In the midst of a perfect wilderness of trees and underbrush we were ordered to clear away the rubbish and police a spot for our camp. For the information of the non-military reader I will ex- plain that to "police" a camp did not mean to stock it with policemen, but to clean up the ground and make it habitable. This was done by sweeping with boughs, or brooms made by tying together a bundle of twigs or sprouts
Everybody wondered what we were there for, but the question was soon answered. The pike stopped at that point, and from there to Somerset, where General Thomas's army lay, the road was almost impassable. It was one great channel of mud. Up the hill behind us came several wagons loaded with picks, axes, and shovels. We were told that for a while "spades were trumps," and we would have a job of building "corduroy" road. We learned that the Nineteenth Kentucky, the fourth regiment of our brigade, which we had not yet seen, was a few miles ahead, work- ing out its road tax. It was expected that after fulfilling its mission here, the brigade would join the forces of General Thomas.
The next morning we entered actively upon the business in hand. All the available officers and men of the three regiments were turned out for duty. The men were to do the work and the officers the "bossing." Only the sick and the necessary guards re- mained in camp. The mire in the road was of almost fathomless depth. Our unsoldierly job promised to be both tedious and disa- greeable, and the promise was abundantly realized. The process was to fell trees, cut the trunks into lengths of twelve feet, split these into sections, and lay them transversely, covering them with
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"ZOLLICOFFER 'S DEAD."
[January,
a few inches of earth. General Wood, on horseback, went splash- ing around to see that the men got started right in the enterprise before then.
The weather was extremely unpleasant. Frequent and co- pious rains drenched the camp, and interfered with the progress of our work. In four days we only made a mile and a quarter of road, at which rate it would have taken four or five months to reach Somerset, the distance to which place was about thirty- five miles. The exposure began to tell upon the men. Hos- pitals were established in Stanford, and every day dozens were sent there. No one felt well and everybody had the blues. The force of effective men that went out day after day to flounder in the mire grew constantly smaller, and the work advanced more and more slowly. There was no straw for the tents. Men slept with little to protect them from the dampness of the soaked ground. Our life, night and day, was utterly and irretrievably miserable. There was not a single redeeming feature. It was very like the Slough of Despond described in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Pro- gress." The slough was certainly there, and we were the de- sponding pilgrims.
On January 31st, an ambulance containing the body of Gen- eral Zollicoffer passed on its way to Nashville, where his family lived. It was under a flag of truce, through military courtesy. We had already seen "live" generals, but no dead ones of either side. There was a great rush to get sight of the coffin containing all that remained of Zollicoffer. A few succeeded in gratifying their curiosity, but more did not. During the entire remainder of the war the death of this celebrated rebel was the subject of a harmless jest. Whenever anybody inquired what the news was he would be gravely told, "Zollicoffer 's dead!" I think this was due to the fact that in the army the air was gener- ally full of the wildest and most absurd rumors -- "grapevines" we called them-concerning the military operations in our own and other departments. We learned that not a tithe of what we heard could be believed. But we knew that General Zollicoffer had been gathered to his fathers. We had seen the hearse that was bearing his body to the grave, and some had seen the coffin itself. So when we informed an anxious inquirer that Zollicoffer
1862.]
OUR AMAZING CORDUROY ROAD.
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was dead we were telling him what we knew to be true -- and about the only thing we did know.
The same day, toward evening, the stability of our new road was tested by a train of wagons loaded with supplies for the troops at Somerset. I think it must have been winterset before they got there. The train wound gayly up the hill. The driver of the first wagon had a knot of red, white and blue ribbons fastened to the butt of his whip, and was singing in a high key as he let go his long lash, with unerring aim, and tickled the ears of his "off leader." Pretty soon the "forrard" wheels of the wagon struck the corduroy, displacing several of the slabs, and when the hind wheels attempted to follow they sank nearly to the hubs. The driver now ceased singing and began to swear, keeping it up, hardly stopping to take breath, for two days and nights-for those mule drivers who had to pass over, or under, or through our corduroy road at Hall's Gap continued their profanity right along after they went to sleep. They swore continually all day and got under such headway that they couldn't stop.
Colonel Streight, of the Fifty-first Indiana, who was standing near that first wagon when it went down, felt his soldierly pride touched at the apparent failure of our road. "Come, boys, let's give 'er a lift!" he exclaimed to the soldiers who were sitting laz- ily around, for we were working by reliefs that day, and half the men were in camp. They got some long timbers and pried up the hind "ex" -- the shiort word for "axletree" -- the colonel throwing his one hundred and eighty pounds of Hoosier flesh upon one of the levers, with immediate effect. Others lifted at the wheels, the driver cracked his whip and launched at the mules some of those blood-curdling oaths that all army teamsters held in reserve for such extraordinary emergencies. Forty or fifty by- standers who couldn't help in any other way stood and yelled at the mules, which were straining until their eyes almost leaped from their sockets. This combined vocal and physical demon- stration was successful, and the wagon went on with bumps and thumps and jumps and slumps for a few rods, when another yawning chasm opened in the road and the wheels went down again.
Each successive wagon left the road in a worse condition
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HARD LINES FOR THE TEAMSTERS.
[January,
than those that had gone before. Here and there the rails and logs were jammed in a heap, some were turned at all angles, and others were sailing around in the mud. As the train toiled on, with sometimes a dozen wagons "stuck" at the same time, the working party was called in and the able-bodied men of the whole brigade betook themselves to the task of prying out the wagons and helping them on their way. We were told that Thomas's soldiers were suffering for food. It was plain that if the teamsters were left to themselves starvation would destroy that army before those supplies could reach Somerset.
General Wood rode along the scene of action, the mud and water squirting out from under the hoofs of his horse. His mind seemed to be in a high ferment, for he shouted with extraordinary vehemence as he endeavored to direct the labors of the soldiers. Once while riding on the corduroy the fore feet of his steed went through into the abyss. In the floundering that followed the gen- eral narrowly escaped being unhorsed. As soon as he recovered himself he gave the mnen around him a "red-hot" lecture for build- ing such a road. His words almost singed their hair. In fact, during those days General Wood delivered a regular course of lectures, full of fire and brimstone.
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