USA > Pennsylvania > The Seventh Pennsylvania veteran volunteer cavalry; its record, reminiscences and roster; with an appendix > Part 8
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"Oh, there is no hard feelings between us," he said, "we fight when duty requires, but I think we'd all rather be friends. What I'd like would be to see the war end, and then your army and ours, or enough of each, go to Mexico and drive out the French!"
Crook's cavalry was camped immediately oppo- site a pontoon bridge thrown across the river, and a group of signal men had a tent near that of the commanding officer of the Seventh. Night after night these "wig-waggers" watched the Confederate station on top of Lookout Mountain, endeavoring to discover the code of signals used. One clear night an officer of the group lay on his back with pad and pencil in hand, watching and noting. Suddenly he sprang up: "By the Lord, I've got it," he exclaimed. "What have you got?"" he was asked.
"Their code!" he replied. "I can read him." And it was proven by future experience that he could.
Information having come to Gen. Crook that Wheeler's cavalry had crossed the river and started on a raid to destroy the railroads and the supplies gathered for our army, there was very little delay in getting on the war path. At once the pursuit of Wheeler began, and for fourteen days was kept up,
MAJ. WM. H. JENNINGS,
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THE SIEGE OF CHATTANOOGA
only ending when the Confederate raiding force had recrossed the river at Mussel Shoals, Alabama. Day after day the experience was the same. At the first peep of dawn both forces would be moving. Details from our command would seout the adjacent coun- try, securing what supplies they could, while the command itself kept steadily after the raiders. No rest was taken or allowed, and as evening approach- ed our advance and the enemy's rear usually came in touch, a few shots would be exchanged, and night would close the scene. Both commands stopped where they were, in or beside the road, and if they had anything to eat, ate it, and afterwards wrapped the soil of mother earth about them and laid down to dreams, pleasant or otherwise. No time was al- lowed the raiders to capture a square meal, much less Uncle Sam's supplies.
Engagements with the enemy were had near Mc- Minnville, where the Seventh charged them success- fully, losing one man killed and six wounded. Mov- ing at daylight next day, the Confederates were soon encountered, and a skirmish lasting several hours followed. Our Second Brigade met with a severe repulse in an attempt made to turn the enemy's right flank, losing over a hundred and fifty men killed and wounded. The fight continued until dark- ness ended it, and during the night Wheeler retired.
He was again engaged at Farmington, and driven from the village with considerable loss. The First Brigade did not come up in time to take part in this engagement.
Moving next morning early the general expected to again strike the enemy, and his orders to the Seventh, which was in the advance, were to charge at once with the saber. The river was reached, and when the pursuers halted upon the brink, the strag- glers of Wheeler's command were seen climbing the ยท opposite bank a mile away.
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Crook moved his command slowly eastward to Maysville, Alabama, where he went into camp to rest and recruit. The principal article of food for the men gathered in the pursuit of Wheeler was sweet potatoes, and this had proved neither sustain- ing nor healthful. As a consequence many of them were ill and unfit for duty, while the horses, living principally on green corn, were in a frightful condi- tion. Vale summarizes this raid and pursuit thus:
"The force with which Wheeler crossed the Tennessee on the 4th, was his own cavalry corps, consisting of Martin's and Armstrong's Divisions of three brigades each, and Hodge's Division of two brigades, or in all eight brigades, numbering not less than six thousand men, and twelve pieces of artil- lery. He destroyed one hundred wagons, loaded with commissary stores and forage, in the Sequatchie valley, burned two small bridges, and slightlly dam- aged about five miles of the railroad near Wartrace, and captured one hundred and fifty infantry guards at the two bridges; this, with the scare, was all the damage he inflicted. He lost four pieces of artillery, two captured and two abandoned; over five hundred killed, nearly eight hundred wounded and eleven hun- dred taken prisoners. He recrossed the Tennessee on the 15th, at Mussel Shoals Alabama, with eight pieces of artillery and less than three thousand de- jected men, his horses broken down, and a thorough- ly disorganized command. The difference is the number of deserters who were "tired of the wah, sah," and went home to stay. This was the last ex- tensive raid against our rear and lines of communi- cation Bragg attempted, he being satisfied that, as Morgan's raid into Indiana and Ohio had cost him over four thousand, and Wheeler, in ten days of that kind of work, had lost over three thousand of his best cavalry, the raiding business as a paying insti- tution, was a failure."
As soon as the camp was formed and supplies obtained, the commander of the Seventh was or-
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dered to take the effective men of that regiment and the Fourth Regulars, and gather in all the horses and mules that could be found in that portion of Alabama and the adjacent borders of Tennessee. This raid led through a region called "Sandy Beat", which is famed in early chronicles as a favorite re- treat of John A. Murill, the "Land Pirate." It is a wild, comparatively desolate region; but little of it reclaimed from its natural condition, and thinly in. habited by people who were hardly abreast with the civilization of 1863. Horses and mules were found throughout it, and nearly four hundred were taken into camp, where they helped materially to fit ont the command. In this connection it may be remark- ed that, for more than ten years after the war was over, claims for animals seized on this raid were made to the authorities at Washington, and referred to the officer who had commanded it, for explanation and report.
The next duty imposed upon the Seventh was an order for details from it to patrol the Tennessee river for twenty miles westward and destroy all boats that could be found. The object of this was to prevent, as far as possible, communication between the Confederate forces south of the river and their sympathizers north of it. In performing this service several valuable horses were found, secreted in cane- breaks and swamps, and brought into camp.
While the cavalry lay at Maysville, Gen. Grant went to Chattanooga and assumed command of the forces concentrated there, as has been already stat- ed. Gen. Crook was ordered there for consultation, and directed Col. Sipes to assume command of the division during his absence. Then followed the bat- tles of Wanhatchie, Lookout Mountain, and the crowning victory of Missionary Ridge, ending finally the hold of the Confederates on this long and desper- ately contested position. The cavalry remained un- molested during these operations, and its condition was greatly improved by the rest it obtained.
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IN HUNTSVILLE
IN HUNTSVILLE.
When Crook returned he moved his cavalry to Huntsville, Alabama, and took possession of the beautiful little city. On reaching the outskirts he sent an order to Col. Sipes, who was with the Sev- enth in the rear of the division, to come to the front. Riding forward he was informed by the General that he was to take command of the city and of the country for three miles around it-that the Seventh would serve as provost guard and be quartered in buildings in the town, all the other troops to go into camp outside the three mile limit, and he added, "You will be held strictly accountable for the good order of the place."
Now, be it understood, the men of the Seventh were soldiers, and were not celebrated for their mildness and amiability. Some of the regiment's officers expressed fears that the temptation would be too great, when they had the city entirely in their charge, for them to resist, and that disorder would follow. But the colonel had no such fears. He told officers and men that they were on their honor- that any outrage perpetrated would be a lasting dis- grace to the regiment, while uniform good conduct would add to its reputation. He assured them of his entire confidence, and felt certain they would per- form their duties properly. The regiment was on duty in Huntsville a month and not a single com- plaint was made, by citizen or resident, of miscon- duct on the part of any one connected with it.
When possession was taken of the city it was found deserted by the white male inhabitants-cer- tainly not more than half a dozen men remained, and some of these only because they were too feeble, on account of age or illness, to travel. But with rare exceptions the women and children were in their homes, and these were, as a rule, having a hard time of it. The slaves, mostly household servants, were
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completely demoralized, with rare exceptions refus- ing longer to obey their owners, and straggling around in idleness, which was their idea of freedom. In one instance a family that had fled further south on the appearance of the "Yankees", left their house and all their belongings in charge of an old "mam- my". She doubtless had been the trusted nurse and housekeeper for many years, and she evidently de- served all the confidence her owner placed in her. She had in charge the town house, a plantation in the vicinity, and at least a dozen slaves of both sex- es; and the way she made those "niggers," as she called them, move around, was a lesson in discipline. The officer in command of the city arranged to board and lodge with this colored lady, paying a stipulated sum per week, and supplying such needed stores as coffee, tea, sugar, etc., while she furnished eggs, fowls and vegetables from the plantation, and any amount of attendance. So complete was this estab- lishment in every way, that a supper given in it to the officers of the division was not only enjoyed by them as a new experience in army life, but was pro- nounced excellent by all present. And what a proud woman that old mammy was when she was called into the dining room and complimented by the Gen- eral for the completeness of the entertainment.
It will be remembered that the time was winter, the weather cold, and that these families of women and children-of aged and helpless-were left un- provided with needed comforts. When this became apparent, the "Yankee soliers" displayed their man- hood in a new form. Men who had been miners in Pennsylvania volunteered to open a coal mine on a nearby mountain and Quartermaster Rickert had the coal hauled in army wagons for free distribution where it was needed.
One day Lieutenant Childs, of Company G, came to the commanding officer and said, alluding to
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a steam grist mill standing silent and apparently dismantled by the railroad in the city :
"Colonel, I can start that mill down there."
"All right. Go ahead and start it."
In a day or two it was in order; then army wagons hauled corn from adjacent fields, where it had remained ungathered, the mill grounded it into meal and this was given free to all who wanted it.
Other incidents might be related, showing acts of kindness done, favors granted, and needed help extended, all going to prove that these soldiers were not in the South to make war on women and chil- dren ; and that Gen. Crook epitomized the condition of things when he remarked, as the command was preparing to march away: "Colonel, these people were sorry to see us come; but they are more sorry to see us go."
Incidents of a different kind occurred during the occupancy of the town and one, at least, is worth recording. To prevent disturbance an order was issued requiring every one, officer, private, and citizen, found on the streets after nine o'clock at night by the provost guard, to produce a pass from the General or the Commander of the city. The guard patrolled the streets at night mounted, usu- ally in squads of four commanded by a non-commis- sioned officer. One night, Corporal "Jimmy" Wilson. of Company F, encountered a group of officers who had been "looking upon the wine" and were happy. It was long after nine o'clock, and the corporal asked them for their passes. This interference they indignantly resented. declaring their intention to go where and do as they pleased, while the provost guard might proceed to a much warmer place than the Sunny South. The result of the dispute was a blow of the corporal's saber over a captain's head. which ent through the hat and made an ugly gash in his scalp. To some extent sobered, and to a greater extent surprised, the officers made their way
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to their camp, and next day complained to the Gen- eral and demanded the punishment of the corporal. This was promptly refused, the General giving them to understand that a guard must be respected, not resisted, and that an officer violating this principle must take the consequences.
Corporal Wilson, who was, like Byron's Cor- sair, "the mildest mannered man that ever scuttled ship or ent a throat," was at first fearful of the con- sequences of his act, and approaching the colonel asked if anything was to be done to him for entting down the officer. Being assured that he was safe, he explained : "Be jabers, I didn't mane to cut him so hard, but me saber was so sharp it wint through his hat and into his skull as it wud go through a cheese !"
A very important question now came before the regiment, of which Dornblazer speaks as follows:
"In the latter part of December, the excitement of re-enlisting as veterans began to agitate the boys, and on the last day of the old year a patriotic wave struck the rank and file of the "battle-hardened Sev- enth," and almost to a man the regiment marched up to the scratch and dressed on the line of veterans. The inducements offered by the government were a furlough of thirty days and four hundred dollars bounty; but the average soldier was not influenced by the money so much as by the following considera- tion-that however distasteful and disagreeable the service in the army might be, yet it was thought more tolerable than to stay at home when the country was calling loudly for volunteers."
With very few exceptions the men of the Sev- enth accepted the liberal proposition of the govern- ment, and Volunteered for the War. Being relieved from duty in Huntsville, the brigade, under com- mand of Col. Sipes, took up the march for Nashville, where the Seventh was to receive their pay and bounty, and start on the journey to God's Country, as home was always spoken of.
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Stopping at Pulaski, Tennessee, to bivouac for the night and draw rations and forage, the command was struck by one of those storms peculiar to the section, called "Northers." In an hour the tempera- ture changed from thawing to freezing-the muddy roads became hard as rocks, and the hurtling sleet stung painfully. Men and animals suffered alike, and the night passed miserably.
When the sun rose the next morning the storm was over, and the command resumed its march to Columbia, where it turned over all its equipments and arms, except revolvers, and took cars for Nash- ville, arriving there the same day.
MUSTERING AS VETERANS.
There was much labor to be performed, and yards of red tape to be untangled before the old regi- ment could start upon its new career. The men had nothing to do but enjoy themselves, but the officers had many rolls to make out, many returns to com- plete, many settlements to effect. Left to themselves, with no guard or other duty to perform, and no horses to care for-with pockets full of money-it is not to be wondered at if they were as wild as schoolboys just turned loose. First they distinguish- ed themselves by damaging a building in which they were quartered to the amount of five hundred dol- lars, which sum the officers had to pay; then they objected to the food provided in the temporary bar- racks to which they were removed, and smashed the dishes; then they found enjoyment in holding up the patrols of the provost guard-an Ohio emergency regiment-and disarming them, carrying the rifles to the barracks: and in short, they raised sheol gen- erally. Nashville was full of stores and restaurants. and these veterans were the best enstomers the Rock City ever secured. They bought the finest articles of clothing they could find; and nothing less than champagne at four dollars a bottle, and cigars at a
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quarter each, would suit some of them. As they expressed it, they were "having a bully time", and one day their enjoyment culminated when a breath- less messenger rushed into the room where the offi- cers were working on the papers, and announced that "the Seventh were going to have a fight with the provost guard!"
Instantly a break was made for the scene of the contest, and there, sure enough, were drawn up in line about a hundred men of the Seventh on one side of the street, and on the other side a company of the provost guard. Breaking through the line of guards, the commander of the regiment demanded the mean- ing of such action on the part of the men? A ser- geant answered for his companions: "We were tak- ing a bit of a drink at the bar inside, when a nigger waiter got impudent, and one of the boys smashed a pitcher over his head. They called the guard, and for a little thing like that they were going to arrest us!"
"You have caused trouble enough," replied the colonel. "Now, go to your quarters."
"And are you going to stand by us?" one of their leaders shouted.
"You know I will," was the reply; and at that they gave a vell and marched to the barracks. The mutiny was over. Of course, there were men in the regiment who conducted themselves very differently. Dornblazer says, that some of the men who were most disorderly were, when in the front, where pro- hibition was enforced, "among the bravest and best behaved soldiers in the regiment." He further re- lates :
"Before leaving the barracks, Capt. Sheaffer's company passed a series of temperance resolutions, requiring every member of the company to abstain from intoxicating drinks on the way home, and dur- ing the continuance of the furlough; and for each violation of this rule a fine of five dollars would be assessed. Only one member, to the best of my recol-
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lection, came forward at the end of the time speci. fied and plead guilty of the charge, and his fine was graciously remitted by a court of equity."
All arrangements being completed, the Seventh embarked on the steamboat Kenton, on the 18th of January, 1864, en route for home. At Cairo, Illinois, they were to transfer to the railway, and were delay. ed two days waiting for cars. Dornblazer says:
"The 'whiskey devil' again stirred up a row. The provost guard attempted to arrest a few of the 'old vets' and the vets' turned on them and killed one of the guards and ronted the rest. The 'vets' retreated to the boat in tolerably good order, follow- ed by a fresh battalion of home-guards. They plant- ed their guns on the levee, with their frowning muz- zles pointing toward the old ship, and peremptorily demanded the surrender of the 'old vets' that did the shooting.
"The Seventh did not propose to shed any blood in protecting any of its members in committing acts of lawlessness and murder; but the demand to sur- render even a criminal must be couched in gentle- manly language or else it would not be respected. The demand was accordingly modified to a polite request. # Three of the guilty parties, mem- bers of Company F, were arrested, and by our own guards sent to provost headquarters for trial."
The railway journey was uneventful, and on the evening of the 25th the regiment arrived in Har- risburg, where an unsatisfactory supper was served at the railway station, and the men then marched to Camp Curtin, where trouble began again.
Camp Curtin had been occupied as a receiving camp since April, 1861. It was uncomfortable and decidedly unsanitary. To quarter nearly five hun- dred veteran soldiers in such a place was an outrage, and the men very properly rebelled against it. They marched back to the Statehouse and Dornblazer
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says, gave three groans for Harrisburg and disband- ed for the night. Next morning the men were as- sembled in the capitol grounds and informed by the colonel that they were at liberty to do as and go where they pleased, until their furloughs were pre- pared, but were expected to conduct themselves like the soldiers they were, and bring no reproach upon the regiment. The confidence thus placed in them was entirely merited; they gave no further cause for complaint. On the 28th they received their fur- loughs, good until February 26th, and the entire command dispersed to their homes.
In a few days it became apparent that there would be no difficulty in filling the ranks of the Sev- enth, and before half of the thirty days had expired, information from different recruiting offices stated that more men had offered than could be accepted by the regiment. Colonel Sipes reported this fact to the War Department, and received an order to increase the company rolls indefinitely. Every com- pany received a hearty welcome home; with some of them it was a jubilee from the time of their arri- val until their departure. At Pottsville, a sword was presented to Col Sipes "by the friends of the regiment." This was supplemented by a pair of silver spurs presented by the ladies of Pottsville; and a complete stand of colors for the regiment by citizens generally. Of course, these were not per- sonal compliments, but were honors bestowed upon a regiment that had, in the field, won a reputation of which its friends at home were justly prond.
Previous to the expiration of the furlough Col. Sipes drew from the Ordnance Department at Wash- ington complete sets of horse equipments, Spencer carbines and sabers for a full regiment. These were shipped to Nashville, where the regiment arrived early in March, bringing altogether about eighteen hundred men, and went into camp, with the Fourth Regulars and Fourth Michigan, on the Franklin Turn-
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GETTING READY
pike, three miles south of Nashville-the brigade at the time being commanded by Col. Sipes. The army was then being prepared for the advance on Atlanta, and care was taken to mount and equip the regiment as completely as possible. As a result the Seventh appeared for final inspection with every company full to the maximum, perfectly armed and equipped, and mounted upon horses of uniform color. Col. Elliott, the inspecting officer, declared to Col. Sipes that in appearance it was "absolutely perfect." In addition to the mounted men described, about six hundred men brought back from Pennsylvania, were sent, unmounted, for duty at Columbia, Tennessee, which had been named as the reserve post of the cavalry and mounted infantry of the Army of the Cumberland. Sherman's order to advance was is- sued April 2, 1864. On the 19th the First Brigade joined Gen. Garrard at Columbia, Col. Minty hav- ing resumed command, and on the 30th the entire division took up the march for Johnson's army wherever it was to be found, and for the city of At- lanta as the final objective.
GETTING READY.
The campaign having as its objective the con- quest of Atlanta, was, in its inception and execu- tion, one of the most important military events of the war of the rebellion, and takes rank among the strategic operations deemed worthy of study by military students throughout the world. It was a part of the great plan of operations decided upon by Gen. Grant after his promotion to the rank of Lieu- tenant General and assignment to the command of all the armies of the United States. The first men- tion of it occurs in a letter from Gen. Grant to Gen. Sherman, marked "private and confidential," dated "Headquarters, Armies of the United States, Wash- ington, D. C., April 4, 1864," in which are outlined the movements designed for the summer. If the
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enemy keep quiet and allow him to take the initia- tive he intends, he says, to work all parts of the army together, and somewhat towards a common center. After a few details, he adds: "You I pro- pose to move against Johnston's army, to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy's coun- try as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources. I do not propose to lay down for you a plan of campaign, but simply to lay down the work it is desirable to have done, and leave you free to execute it in your own way. Submit to me, however, as early as you can, your plan of operations."
Sherman replied from Nashville, April 10, stat- ing that the plans suggested afforded him infinite satisfaction, because "we are now all to act on a common plan, converging on a common center," and declares that "this looks like enlightened war." He adds, "I will not let side issues draw me off from your main plans, in which I am to knock Joe John- ston, and do as much damage to the resources of the enemy as possible." In pursuance of this un- derstanding, Sherman pushed forward his arrange- ments with his usual energy and determination, per. mitting no obstacle to remain in his way and no in- dividual to check his proceedings. The force with which he proposed to move was made up as follows : ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND, GEN. THOMAS.
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