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 9
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0 N THE morning of February 24th Wood's division re- ceived orders to march immediately. Camp was quickly broken, but, as usual, we waited six or eight hours and did not fall in till late in the afternoon. We only moved to the south side of Green river, crossing by the high railroad bridge which had been planked. The mules were exasperatingly per- verse, and it was only after much coaxing and whipping that they consented to make the passage. The Sixty-fifth crossed at dusk and pitched its tents on a high knoll near the south end of the
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WE HAVE A DELUGE.
[February,
bridge. During the evening the camp was swept by a terrific hurricane, accompanied by a flood of rain. The storm burst sud- denly, with scarcely a moment's warning. In five minutes half the tents were prostrate, and the men were vaguely groping around trying to find out what was the matter. The water ran down the hill in rivers. Everything was thoroughly deluged. Very little sleeping was done that night, with this advantage, that we were already awake when the reveille sounded at four o'clock.
The storm interrupted the crossing of the troops, it being im- possible to go over the bridge until it had abated. The Sixty- fourth had a perilous trip in the darkness, making the passage by the feeble light of lanterns. The teams were led over only with the greatest difficulty and danger. The regiment did not reach the south bank until past midnight. The wagons were unable to reach the place chosen for the camp, and for the first time the regiment bivouacked without tents. The men made such shifts as they could to keep themselves out of the mud, during the brief time allowed them for sleep.
We were off early, but found the road in a terrible condition, almost wholly impassable for artillery and wagons. It was stated that the enemy had plowed up the pike for miles south of the river. Its condition gave color of truth to the story. After floundering along four or five miles in as many hours, that route was decided to be impracticable. It was learned from the inhabit- ants that along the summit of a high range of hills called "Green River Knobs," to the right of the pike, there was a rough coun- try road sometimes used during the rainy season. It was deter- mined to try this road. A wide gap was opened in the fence and we filed off through the fields, followed by the wagons. We soon reached the foot of the hills and found the ascent long and steep. It was impossible for the teams to go up unaided. They were directed to halt and remain until our return. We climbed to the top, stacked arms, unslung knapsacks, and went down to help and encourage the mules. Teams were doubled on the wag- ons, but with twelve miles to each, and forty or fifty men with ropes and poles, pulling and lifting, and of course everybody shouting, it was only with the greatest difficulty, and by slow stages, that they reached the top. By the time the wagons were
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1862.]
A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL.
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all up it was nearly dark and we were ordered to go into camp.
" We had this sort of thing for two days longer. There was no road that deserved the name, and the teamsters picked their way, each for himself as best he could. In some places the ground was desperately rough and stony, and in others so soft that the wheels sank almost to the hubs. There was no pretense of order in marching. Each company was directed to attend its wagon- details being made for the regimental teams-and get over the distance as fast as possible. At some points the road- way was so much lower at one side than the other that it was necessary to fasten ropes to the upper side of the wagons, and only the pulling of a dozen men pre- vented disaster. As it was, a number of wagons in the brigade were capsized, some being badly broken and the contents of all thrown into a condition of chaos. Sev- eral became so immovably "sut" in the soft earth that they had to be unloaded, pried out, and then reload- ed. Ropes and levers were in constant use.
CHARLES E. BAKER,
All day long the woods CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FOURTH. . resounded with the braying of mules and the wild yells of the men. The scene was one of
indescribable confusion. When, at the close of the third day, the straggling column filed down from the hills to the solid pike, there was great rejoicing. Mules and men were about equally used up. The whole length of our detour over the " Knobs " was but twelve miles, but we were two and a half days in making it.
Shortly after reaching the pike we went into bivouac by the roadside. Many of the wagons had left part of their loads at
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THE TRAVELING BAKE-SHOP.
[February,
points along the route over the "Knobs," and were obliged to re- turn. During the greater portion of the night these wagons came rumbling along the pike with the belated baggage of their com- panies. That evening, February 27th, we learned of the evacu- ation of Nashville and its occupation by General Mitchel. This elicited more shouting, and increased the apprehension that the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth would have to go home after having seen vastly more mud than blood.
One of the vehicles in our caravan when we left Louisville was a bakery on wheels. Some inventive genius had evolved this machine and foisted it upon the government. One was given to each regiment, in furtherance of a benevolent but Utopian scheme to supply the fastidious soldiers with "soft bread " in the field. It was one of the spasmodic efforts made in this direction during the first three months of our service, all of which ended in failure. At the end of each day's march the big perambu. lating bake-shop would be put "in battery," and the baker would fire up and in a few hours turn out by the hundred, loaves of what he called bread. It was mostly wretched stuff, heavy and sour, that severely taxed our digestive apparatus. Two or three times our baker got drunk during the day and then, if we didn't have hardtack, we had to cook our own flour as best we could. When the roads were bad, the ponderous ma- chine would stick fast in the mud and not show up at all. We managed to drag ours around until the trip over the "Knobs." That finished it. Capsized and wrecked, it was abandoned and we never saw it again. We didn't want to. The experience of other regiments with them was much the same and about this time the traveling bakeries disappeared from the army. The scheme was a failure.
On the 28th we pushed on to Bristow station, a few miles from Bowling Green. Here we were obliged to halt and remain several days to await the laying of bridges over Barren river. Fully twenty thousand troops were encamped in the vicinity. It rained most of the time and but little was done in the way of drilling. Nobody regretted this, as it took us a week to recover from the fatigue of our trip over the " Knobs."
While here our camps were often visited by lank Kentuck-
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A LESSON IN CONFISCATION.
1862.]
ians of both sexes, with cakes, pies (so called), corn bread, and other articles of domestic commerce. They knew the soldiers had recently been paid, and also that they were always hungry. They coupled these facts together, with an eye to business, and laid upon their wares the most enormous prices. The result generally was that the soldiers got the eatables without paying anything for them. One day a man entered the camp of our brigade with an ox-cart loaded with such articles as I have mentioned. He also brought along his wife and the entire family. I say "entire family " because there could not well have been any more of them, although I have no means of knowing how many of them "got away." The man began immediately to negotiate with the boys. At the prices he charged it was evident that he expected to buy a farm out of the proceeds of that cart-load. Probably while on his way to camp he had laid his plans for the investment of the pro- ceeds, after the manner of the gay milkmaid in the old spelling- book. But sales were slow. The boys wanted what he had to sell, but not at such exorbitant rates. They thought the prob- lem would solve itself presently, and it did. They vainly remon- strated with him on his greed for money, and finally, at a given signal, strong hands seized one wheel of the cart and turned it over in an instant. There was a lively scramble for the plunder and in less than a minute the last pie had disappeared. After standing a moment in speechless amazement the man righted the cart and loaded the children all in a heap. Then he climbed in over one wheel while his wife climbed over the other, and started his oxen for home, evidently glad to escape with his life.
The "pies" which these people brought into camp were fearfully and wonderfully made. It was a very natural inquiry that one of the boys propounded after two or three fruitless at- tempts to bite one which he had just bought from a woman, when he asked her whether her pies were "pegged or sewed." These natives were always glad to trade their truck for coffee, sugar, or salt.
One day a man came into camp with a mule tied with ropes and strings to a sort of cart on which he had a barrel of good hard cider, which he undertook to sell out at ten cents a drink. It did not take the boys long to flank that scheme. One of them
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AT BOWLING GREEN.
[March,
got an augur, and, while a dozen of his comrades crowded about the proprietor, who was managing the spigot, he crept under the cart and bored a hole in the bottom of the barrel. The boys passed their canteens to him and they were filled in a twinkling. In about fifteen minutes the barrel was empty. The surprise of that man when the cider ceased to flow may be imagined, for he had probably not sold more than a dozen glasses. He made an inspection, and when he discovered the game that had been played on him he started away in a highly inflamed state of mind, declaring that it was the "orneriest" crowd he ever saw.
. March 5th we were up before daylight, having re- ceived the night before or- ders to cross Barren river. We left camp in the midst of a furious rain. As we neared Bowling Green we passed the deserted fortifi- cations and camps of the enemy. The Confederate army had lived in what we judged to have been very comfortable huts, with fire- places and chimneys. On . leaving, the rebel soldiers set fire to them, and forests JACOB G. BITTINGER, CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FOURTH. of blackened chimneys alone remained. The enemy had destroyed the railroad and wagon bridges. General Mitchel had found three small steamboats on the river, and using these as a makeshift, he contrived, with the aid of a few pontoons, a passable bridge. The banks were, how- ever, extremely precipitous, and fully forty feet in height. Ex- cept for the fact that there was no such word as "impossible" in the army lexicon, we would not have thought that wagons and artillery could be drawn up. We marched over the bridge and to
1862.]
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A LONG AND STRONG PULL.
the top of the hill, where we stacked arms, and returned to bear a hand at the wagons. We took them one at a time. At the foot of the hill two ropes seventy-five feet long were fastened to the end of the pole and run out ahead of the team. A hundred men seized these ropes and at the signal started with a blood-curdling yell, while the teamster belabored his mules, and the bystanders lent the aid of their shouts. Thus, by a grand rush, the wagon was fairly lifted to the top. It took two hours to get up the wagons of the brigade.
After a brief rest, for the men to recover their wind, we fell in and marched to College Hill, just south of town, where we encamped within the fortifications. Very strong works had been built by the enemy on all the hills which surround Bowling Green. They did a vast amount of work to no purpose, just as we did so many times. Several of the finest buildings in the city had been burned, including the warehouses containing such military stores as the enemy could not carry away in his hasty flight immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson. We obtained plenty of good fuel from the timber used in the construction of the works. A quantity of salt beef that fell into our hands was issued to us, but its quality was so bad that we could not eat it.
We were kept constantly at high tension. Hourly excite- ment was caused by rumors, more or less authentic, that reached our ears. Language cannot describe our .mpatience to push for- ward. We were eager to find somebody who wanted to fight, and our hearts sank when we learned that the rebels had-to use an army word-"'skedaddled." We did not know, but we presumed that it was the approach of the Sherman brigade that caused them to choose discretion as the better part of valor. We did find them after a while, as will appear in the course of this narrative, but it was a long, long chase.
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March,
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CHAPTER IX.
ON TO NASHVILLE.
THE MARCH FROM BOWLING GREEN-LOST RIVER-IN THE CAPITAL OF TENNESSEE-DISLOYALTY OF THE CITIZENS-OUR FIRST PICKET DUTY-CORINTH OUR NEXT OBJECTIVE POINT-STRIPPING FOR A LONG MARCH-EXTRACT FROM AN ORDERLY SERGEANT'S DIARY.
S OON after noon on the 6th of March we set our faces toward Nashville. The weather was bitterly cold, and as we marched our line was enfiladed by a biting blast that set every nerve to tingling. Seven miles on our way we turned into a large field and camped in two inches of snow. There was a furious rush for rails and the entire fence around the field quickly disappeared. Colonels and staff officers made a great deal of fuss trying to stop the raid, but it was no use and they gave up in despair. It was noticed that a little later they, them- selves, stood about big piles of burning rails, and seemed to enjoy and appreciate the convenient fuel as much as we did. The night was wild and stormy. Sleep was well-nigh impossible, and we spent the slowly dragging hours in hovering around the fires.
Next day we advanced to Franklin, Kentucky, a few miles from the state line. One of our halts was at Lost river -a singular freak of nature. Not far from the road is a deep basin. At the bottom, a rapid stream, twenty feet wide, makes its ap- pearance at one side, rushes across the basin, enters the opposite
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1862.]
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HORATIO N. WHITBECK, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, SIXTY-FIFTH, AND BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL.
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WE ENTER THE TENNESSEE CAPITAL.
[March,
bank and is seen no more. The water is clear and cold and most excellent for drinking.
When ready to march the next morning we were informed that the road for half a dozen miles was in an almost impassable condition. It was determined to divide the loads and have the wagons make two trips. Marching in column was not attempted. Half of each company remained with part of the baggage while the other half assisted its wagon, lightly laden, over the stretch of bad road. We found'the latter even worse than had been repre- sented, and it was only after five hours of severe labor that we reached solid ground. It was nearly night when the second re- lief arrived with the remainder of the baggage. After an hour for supper and re-arranging loads we pushed on six miles farther, bivouacking, near midnight, on the soil of Tennessee.
A very fatiguing march of twenty-two miles on the 9th took us within seven miles of Nashville. We had been kept at a high speed, with few halts, and not half the men were with the colors when we stacked arms. Hundreds fell out of ranks and came straggling in, weary and footsore, till after midnight. Next day we did not move, nor the next. The tired soldiers were obtuse enough to think that it would have been much better to spread out the march over. two days, instead of crowding it all into one and then lying idle in camp the next two. But we came across : great many things that were past finding out, and we finally quit trying to solve the puzzling questions that presented themselves.
We broke camp on the 12th, and again it was our misfortune to start in a hard shower that lasted an hour and thoroughly soaked our clothing. We soon came in sight of Nashville. The fine state house is on a commanding eminence and can be seen for miles, from all the approaches to the city. We passed through Edgefield, on the north side of the Cumberland, and at ten o'clock reached the river. The bridges had been entirely destroyed by the rebels and none had yet been laid by our forces. Troops, ar-
tillery and wagons were being ferried over by steamboats. The wire suspension bridge, for the passage of wagons, was one of the finest structures of its kind in the United States. Its destruc- tion was a needless and wanton act. It did not delay for a single
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EVACUATION OF NASHVILLE
1862.]
day the advance of the Union troops that took possession of the city. After waiting some hours we were ferried over, and, leav- ing a detail from each company to assist the wagons, we marched to the public square and stacked arms.
We found few fortifications around Nashville. For its safety the rebels had depended upon the army at Bowling Green, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river. When Donelson fell, and Grant's gunboats were already steaming up the Cumberland, the break came. There was a wild rush from Bowling Green, and there was no time then to do any- thing that could save Nash- ville. Citizens told us that Johnston's army went through the city southward in a condition closely bor- dering on panic. The aban- donment of the city took place on Sunday, amidst a scene of the wildest con- fusion. It was like that other Sunday, three years later, when, sitting in his pew in church at Rich- mond, Jefferson Davis re- ceived that fateful dispatch from General Lee, telling JACOB CHRISTOFEL, CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FIFTH. Killed at Stone River, December 31, 1862. him that the Confederate capital must be evacuated immediately.
A small portion of the citizens followed the rebel army in its flight. The majority were sensible enough to remain, take care of their property, and submit to the fortunes-or misfortunes-of war. From that day to this the Union flag has floated from the state house at Nashville. The enemy loudly boasted that the in- vaders would soon be driven out, but they had come to stay, and they stayed.
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OUR FIRST PICKET DUTY.
[March,
There were many strong secessionists in the city. Nearly all the wealthy and influential citizens ardently advocated the cause of rebellion. At the time our forces occupied the place the feel- ing was very bitter. There, as elsewhere, none were so relentless as the women. A finely dressed lady, when passing General Buell's headquarters, walked in the mire of the street to avoid passing under the flag that hung over the sidewalk. She even spat upon it as she passed. General Buell happened to witness the occurrence. Quickly mounting his horse he followed her until she entered her residence. He thought the house would make a good hospital, and an hour later several ambulances laden with sick soldiers halted before it. The lady was directed to pre- pare some of her rooms immediately for their occupancy.
When the wagons rejoined us in the public square we marched out of the city and five miles to the southward Here we laid out a pleasant camp, with a prospect of remaining at least for a few days. The regular routine of camp life was at once re- sumed, with incessant drilling. We began to feel the warni breath of spring. The sun shone brightly, the ground became dry, and general good health and spirits prevailed.
At this camp we had our first experience in regular picket duty. Hitherto we had always maintained the invariable camp guard, but had not been in the immediate presence of the enemy. Picket duty in the army was pleasant enough when the weather was fair, and we were not so near to the other fellows that the temptation was irresistible on both sides to shoot at anybody in sight. Under the latter conditions it was "business," indeed. The boys went, but it was because duty called, not that they liked it. Vigilance on the part of the pickets was of the utmost importance to the safety and well-being of an army in the field. The pickets were its safeguard against surprise, by night and by day, and their watchfulness often detected movements of the en- emy, knowledge of which was of the highest value. In sun- shine and darkness, under the twinkling stars or through the wild storm, those eyes that never slept kept watch and ward over the army that lay behind implicitly trusting in their faithful- ness. No fire cheered and warmed the vidette during his lonely vigil. In the chilling air of winter, amid snow and frost, or in
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SOLDIERS AS DAIRYMEN.
1862.]
the pelting rain, he must stand his allotted time upon the outpost, with eye and ear ever alert. He knew not what moment a bul- let from an unseen foe might strike him to the earth.
But our first experience here was not of this sanguinary character. A regiment from each division was sent out daily, for twenty-four hours of duty. Our first 'trick" was on March 17th. With one day's rations in haversacks we marched to the outposts, two miles from camp, relieving the Fortieth Indiana, of Wagner's brigade. We were stationed, four men on each post, covering a front of more than a mile. One from each post occupied, two hours at a time, an advanced position as vidette. Those in re- serve were permitted to rest at ease, but without removing their accouterments, and all were cautioned to alertness and vigilance. Just at dusk a delegate from our post stealthily followed a large turkey for an hour, but was unable to effect a capture. There was a barnyard very near us, where we saw a lot of cows being .milked by wenches. Toward morning one of the boys slung our four canteens over his shoulder and in a few minutes returned with them full of milk, all of which he said he "pumped out of one cow." In the morning, when the dusky milkmaid began her customary operations upon that cow, she was sadly nonplussed at the lack of the usual results. After trying in vain she sprang to her feet, exclaiming :
"Sumfin' wrong wid dat ar critter, shuah! Cain't git no milk out o' her dis mawnin', no how!"
When the regiment was relieved one of the companies of the right wing brought in three prisoners which they had captured during the night. They were negroes, and they were almost pale with fright. One of them implored to be released as "Mars'r would whip him, sartin!" The two others said they had come all the way from Shelbyville: that the rebels were impressing the negroes to work for the army and they "run'd off." Upon reach- ing camp they were released by Colonel Harker, after being closely questioned for information. The one who was in such fear of the lash was given a pass to go home and the others were hired as servants by officers of the regiment. That evening, however, a man came in who claimed them as his "property"-as they then were by law-and they were surrendered to him,
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A LONG CHASE IN PROSPECT.
[March,
The fugitive rebels did not stop after leaving Nashville till they reached Corinth, Mississippi. They announced their deter- mination to fight there, which appeared to please the boys who, at Green river, had so bewailed the prospect of a speedy close of the war. Everything indicated an active spring and summer campaign. Corinth is about one hundred and forty miles south- west from Nashville. General Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders in the armies of the Confederacy, who com- manded that department, repaired thither in person, determined to make a "stand" with all the forces he could muster. Gen- eral Grant had transported his army up the Tennessee river and planted it, forty-five thousand strong, on the west bank, at Pitts- burg Landing. Johnston was daily receiving reinforcements, and gave clear indication of his settled purpose to fight at or near that point. That it was the intention of the Union army to accommo- date him was apparent from the hostile attitude of Grant, and the menacing advance of Buell. It became evident that a battle must soon take place, and it was determined to reinforce Grant with the greater portion of Buell's army.
By the 20th of March it was definitely known that we would ere long be on the road again, withi a good prospect of business ahead. The news fell upon willing ears, for if the truth be told we had not a little anxious curiosity to see for ourselves what a battle was like. For three months we had been tramping and . camping, and doing, as it seemed to us, more than our share of hard duty, but we felt that we could not consider ourselves full- fledged soldiers until we had heard the whistle of bullets. It will not be out of place to observe here that during the ensuing three years we were more than gratified in this respect. We got all we wanted. It was just the same with the recruits who came to us from time to time during those years, or a new regiment, with brightly burnished guns and enormously swelled knapsacks. These were always valiant in word and spirit. Their ears longed to hear the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry. Their nostrils were keen to sniff the smoke of battle. But after one ex- perience they became suddenly quiet on the subject. Again and again they went into battle, with splendid courage, but it was from a sense of duty, and not because there was any fun in it.
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