USA > Tennessee > The military annals of Tennessee. Confederate. First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, V.2 > Part 15
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The writer, as Acting Assistant Adjutant-general of Quarles's brigade, of which the Forty-ninth was a part, made an official report to division head-quarters on
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555
REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
the following morning, a copy of which is now in his possession, and shows: The effective strength of the brigade going into battle, 913; killed, 76; wounded, 400; missing, 19; total, 495.
It will be remembered that at this time the commands which had been raised in territory subsequently occupied by the enemy, and held in his possession from an early period of the war, had been unable to recruit their ranks, and so had been reduced to mere skeletons, and a brigade was about equal to an ordinary reg- iment. More than one-half of the men of the brigade were killed or wounded in this action.
In connection with this engagement it would be unjust not to mention the ac- tion of the gallant Mississippi battery, commanded by the noble Yates, which supported the regiment and the rest of Quarles's brigade. This battery was greatly impeded in its march to the field by the road being filled with troops, but by the energy of its gallant Captain was up in time for the charge. As soon as it reached the field it opened upon the enemy under a terrible fire of artillery and musketry, and in less than five minutes eighteen were killed or wounded. It suffered greatly afterward, and won not only the admiration of the regiment, but of Quarles and staff and all who saw its action.
From this time the regiment continued with Hood's army to the end of the Georgia campaign, and went with it to the campaign ending at the Alabama line. Crossed the Chattahoocheeiver at Pumpkin Town, and advanced to Big Shanty, taking part in the capture of that garrison, and also in the action at Acworth, and assisted in destroying ten or fifteen miles of railroad. The command then marched to Resaca, and thence to Dalton, via Sugar Valley Post-office, and were engaged in the destruction of the railroad until the surrender of Dalton, on October 13. It was with Gen. Hood during his march to Tuscumbia, Ala., and was upon the banks of the Tennessee one month after its departure from Pumpkin Town.
After crossing the Tennessee River, the regiment was with Gen. Hood during the Tennessee campaign, taking part in all the engagements of his army. It was in the battle of Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864. The regiment went into battle under the command of Lieut .- col. Thomas M. Atkins, who had been promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain of Company A (Bailey's old company), and to Lieu- tenant-colonel of the regiment at Big Shanty. He had the love and affection of the whole command, and the regiment did its duty nobly. Capt. R. T. Coulter, of Company G, was acting Adjutant, and was killed in the charge near the gin- house, where the bravest of the regiment fell. Capt. R. Y. Johnson, of Company F, who was severely wounded at Franklin, and saved the colors of the regiment, furnished me with a copy of the Chattanooga Rebel of Jan. 15, 1865, which gives a list of the killed, wounded, and missing. This paper says: "Killed, twenty; wounded, thirty-six; missing, thirty-six; total ninety-two. The regiment went into battle with one hundred and eight guns and twenty-one officers. Several of those in the list of missing are known to have been wounded." The men acted well-many of them were taken prisoners within the enemy's breastworks, and "these had been gloriously led by their officers, many of whom had fallen either upon or near the Federal breastworks, dying as the brave should prefer to die, in the intense and exalted excitement of battle."
It then moved with Hood to Nashville, and took part in the engagement there, Dec. 16, 1864, and retreated with his army after its defeat, in Walthall's division.
556
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
On the 20th of Dec., 1864, it came under the orders of Gen. Forrest, command- ing the rear-guard, and was engaged on the 24th in the battle south of Lynnville. and the engagements at Anthony's Hill and Sugar Creek. Another has said: " Each Confederate officer and soldier appeared to act and fight as if the fate of the army depended on his individual conduct. And never were there manifested higher soldierly virtues than by Forrest's heroic band-including the infantry. . . . The men marched barefooted in many cases, often waist-deep in ice-cold water, while sleet beat upon their heads and shoulders." The same writer says of Sugar Creek: "The creek was about saddle-skirt deep, and through it the Federal cav- alry dashed rearward without regard to any ford, and after them followed Wal- thall's dauntless men, charging waist-deep through the icy water."
The regiment then retreated with Hood's army to Tupelo, Miss., and remained there until ordered to North Carolina, to join Johnston's army. Took part in the battle of Bentonville, on March 19, 1865, and was surrendered with the other remnants of that army.
This ends my brief sketch of the Forty-ninth Tennessee Regiment, a gallant, noble organization of true and loyal men, of whom, as a part of Quarles's brigade, after one of their bloody encounters, it was said by Gen. Hood: "They belong to a brigade that has never lost a picket line, nor given back in the presence of the enemy."
When I think of them as they stood in line at their first dress-parade on the bloody field of Donelson, my mind recurs to the poet from whom I must make a second quotation:
Few, few shall part where many meet! The snow shall be their winding-sheet, And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulcher.
Official. ] FORTY-NINTH TENNESSEE INFANTRY.
Colonel, James E. Bailey; Lieutenant-colonel, T. K. Grigsby ; Major, David A. Lynn : Ali- tant, F. P. Mc Whirter; Quartermaster, G. S. Atkins; Surgeon, L. L. Lindsey ; Chaplain, J. H. McNeilly.
COMPANY A. Captain, J. B. Howard
Darnell, Edward, d. a prisoner of war.
Morrison, J. S., d. a prisoner of war.
Talar, T. J., d. May 6, 1862.
Riggirs, G. T., d. a prisoner of war.
Bumpous, Y., d. a prisoner of war.
Harris, George, d. March, 1862.
Sheperd, William L., d. July, 1863.
COMPANY B. Captain, R. H. McLelland.
Cunningham, A. J., d. a prisoner of war.
Clymer, C. J., d. a prisoner of war.
Ford, W. D., d. a prisoner of war. Ham, J. W., d. a prisoner of war. Harris, J. T., d. a prisoner of war. Cunningham, E. L., d. Jan. 8, 1863. Harrod, M. G., d. April, 1863.
Blanton, G. W., d. Feb. 28, 1862. Atkins, J. G., d. Jan. 26, 1303.
Linsay, J. M., d. Sept. 17, 1863.
Link, Robert, d. Sept. 7, 1862.
McCall, John B., d. June 6, 1862.
Spradlin, A. O., d. March 14, 1862.
Williams, J. W .. d. March, 1862.
White, W. H., d. March, 1863.
COMPANY C.
Captain, R. Y. Johnson.
Dupree, E. G., d. March 15, 1862. Dickson, R. C., d. Sept. 2, 1862.
....
Avritt, Richard, d. a prisoner of war.
Smith, Isaac, d. Sept. 15, 1862.
Chasteen, John, d. March 1, 1862.
REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
557
Dunwiddy, J. S., d. Feb. 1, 1862.
Farmer, H., d. Feb., 1862.
Hagood, R. T., d. Nov. 8, 1862.
Pace, M. J., d. Aug. 21, 1862.
Stephens, T. H., d. March 10, 1862.
Smith, E. G., d. March, 1862.
Taylor, H. N., d. Feb. 1, 1802.
Walker, G. W. T., d. Dec. 2, 1862. [ Unofficial.]
Morris, First Lieut. T. J., d. in hospital at Mo- bile, Ala., Nov., 1863.
Maury, Sergt. W. A., k. at Franklin, Oct. 30, 1864.
Knight, Wm., d. in prison.
Matthews, Jasper, d. at home, 1862.
Murphy, A. C., d. in hospital, 1863.
Porter, G. W., d. in prison, 1804.
Prest, James, d. in prison, 1862.
Powell, Wiley, mortally wounded at Fort Don- elson, Feb. 2, 1862.
Thomas, J. M., d. in hospital, 1863. Porter, J. H., d. in prison, 1864.
COMPANY D. Captain, R. H. Dunlap.
Brown, J. H., d. March 16, 1862. Burton, W. H., d. Feb. 25, 1862.
Daniel, J. J., d.
Dunnington, T. J., d.
Thompson, J. M., d.
Frasier, N. C., d.
Thompson, J. L., d. Sept. 4, 1863.
Frasier, M. H., d.
Thedford, J. W. B., d. May 22, 1862.
Grantum, M., d.
Walker, J. L., d. Feb. 11. 1862.
Howard, W. B., d.
Wiley, J. K. P., d. September 8, 1862.
Gartier, D. P., d.
Walker, R., d. March 30, 1862.
Manglin, E. B., d.
Walker, J. N., d. April 16, 1863.
COMPANY E. Captain, J. W. Wall.
Rowland, G. W., k. at Fort Donelson.
Powers, E. H., d. at Camp Douglas.
Williams, J. B., d. at Camp Douglas.
Powell, Albert, d. at Camp Douglas.
Hamrick. Hiram, d. Sept. 16, 1862.
Powell, N. D., d. at Camp Douglas.
Dilling, J. J., d. March 3, 1862.
Jennett, J. R., d. at Camp Douglas.
Fletcher, W. H., d. at Alton, Ill.
COMPANY F. Captain, H. V. Harrison.
Powell, W. P., d. Feb. 28, 1862.
Priest, J. T., d. Feb. 28, 1862.
Knight, W. H., d. March 15, 1863.
Harris, Samuel, d. July 11, 1862. Higgs, T. R., d. March 14, 1862. Mathews, M. V., d. Jan. 24, 1802.
COMPANY G. Captain, Thomas M. Atkins.
Anderson, J. C., k. at Fort Donelson.
Heathington, F. E., d. October, 1862
Damaron, John, k. at Fort Donelson. Helm, J. W., d. Feb. 9, 1863.
Farley, John T., k. at Fort Donelson.
Orgain, B. D., d. March 14, 1863.
White, B. F., d.
Harris, Wm., d. Sept., 1863.
Hutchison, J. A., d. April, 1862.
Harris, James, d. Feb. 1, 1862.
Haskins, R. J., d. a prisoner of war.
Harris, John, d. Feb., 1862.
Hackney, Stephen, d. a prisoner of war.
Orgain, John, d.
COMPANY H. Captain, Thomas H. Smith.
Darnell, George W., k. at Fort Donelson. Heater, J. W. O., k. at Fort Donelson. Low, J., d. May 21, 1862. Price, James, d. March, 1862.
--
Smith, Williamson, d. Jan., 1863. Smith, Joseph, d. May 9, 1863. Tippett, M. T., d. March 6, 1862.
COMPANY I. Captain, Isaac Anderson.
Allen, Newton, d. a prisoner of war. Gulley, J. R., d. a prisoner of war.
-
Alexander. H. W .. d. a prisoner of war. Cox, S. H., d. a prisoner of war. .
.
Sugg, S. W., d. March 22, 1863. Siginore, J. W., d. April 22, 1862. Sanders, H. W., d. March 20, 1862.
Nash, J. W. R., d.
Burks, H. J., d. at Camp Douglas.
Davenport, W. H., d. at Camp Douglas.
Ricon, Charles D., d. Jan. 18, 1863. Boothe, Isaac D., d. Jan. 25, 1863.
558
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
Tiner, J. C., d. a prisoner of war.
Prater, John, d. June 2, 1862.
Allen, Joseph, d. Jan. 11, 1862.
Pacey, R. C., d.
Bailey, Wesley, d. July 15, 1862.
Roberts, T. A., d. May 28, 1863.
Butler William, d. Feb. 13, 1862.
Smith, G. W., d.
Curtis, Joshua, d.
Smith, Nathan, d. Aug. 11, 1862.
Vincent, H. C., d.
Patson, W. H., d. Aug. 8, 1362.
Irby, J. H., d. Oct. 30, 1862.
Lewis, J. H., d. March 4, 1862.
COMPANY K. Captain, W. B. Evans.
Swan, Samuel, k. at Fort Donelson.
Read, I .. L., d. Sept. 18, 1862.
Harris, John, d. Nov. 1861.
Ellis, R. W., d. Oct. 10, 1862.
Denny, Robert, d. Dec. 27, 1862.
Maxey, Merritt, d. Oct. 12, 1862.
Jones, Jacob, d. Jan. 5, 1862.
Watson, Talton, d. Oct. 14, 1862.
Read, David, d. Feb. 1, 1862.
Hudgins, R. A., d. Jan., 1863.
Harris, Willis, d. Feb., 1862.
Hant, B. W., d. Feb. 7, 1863.
Vanhook, Joseph, d. a prisoner of war.
Denney, J. C., d. Feb. 9, 1863.
Clifton, B. J., d. a prisoner of war.
Maxey, James, d. Feb. 22, 1863.
Moonhon, John W., d. a prisoner of war.
Fox, W. Z., d. May 24, 1863.
Nicholson, W. D., d. a prisoner of war.
Williams, W. S., d. July 9, 1363.
Teasley, James A., d. a prisoner of war.
Plaster, N. T., d. July 15, 1853.
FIFTIETH TENNESSEE INFANTRY. BY C. W. TYLER, CLARKSVILLE, TENN.
Ix the early fall of 1861 a few companies of infantry under command of Col. Randall W. MeGavock, of Nashville, were stationed at Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, about thirty miles below Clarksville, Tenn.# This command was known as MeGavock's battalion, and was the nucleus of the Fiftieth Teanes- see Regiment, which afterward became the garrison regiment at Donelson. Lieut. J. H. Holmes was the Adjutant of this battalion; Clay Roberts, Quartermaster; Thomas Shameral, Commissary; and Lieut. George W. Pease, a gallant young Pennsylvanian, who had left home and come South just previous to the breaking out of the war, was acting by appointment of Governor Harris as drill-master of the raw troops. Although he was a stranger and from the North, this young mar. soon became very popular with all the soldiers. He served with the regiment during the entire war, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-colonel. For the brave stand which he took in behalf of the South, his father disinherited him; and after the war, his family, except one sister, refused to see him or to allow him to visit them. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1874 or 1875.
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On the night of November 19th, 1861, at 10 o'clock, the company to which I te- longed (afterward Co. E of the Fiftieth) left Clarksville for Fort Donelson to join McGavock's battalion. At 2 o'clock the next morning we reached the landing at Donelson, and climbed the muddy hill to the fort, prepared to play our part in the great drama.
From time to time other companies were added to ours, and at length on Christ- mas day, 1861, we organized as a regiment by the election of field officers. The new regiment was called the Fiftieth Tennessee, and the companies were com- manded as follows: Co. A, Capt. T. W. Beaumont, Montgomery county; Co. B,
" Evidently a mistake. See Clark's sketch of the Tenth Regiment, page 282.
Dalton, James, d. March 10, 1862.
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REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
Capt. George W. Stacker, Stewart county; Co. C (an Alabama company), Capt. Jackson; Co. D, Capt. Sam Graham, Stewart county; Co. E, Capt. C. A. Sugg, Montgomery county; Co. F, Capt. A. Richards, Stewart county; Co. G, Capt. Gould, Cheatham county; Co. H, Capt. H. C. Lockert, Stewart county; Co. I, Capt. Wm. Martin, Stewart county; Co. K, Capt. A. Wilson, Humphreys county.
Capt. George W. Stacker, of Co. B, a man of considerable wealth, who had uni- formed his own company and otherwise greatly aided the Stewart county volun- teers, was elected Colonel of the regiment. Capt. Cyrus A. Sugg, of Co. E, was elected Lieutenant-colonel; and Capt. H. C. Lockert, of Co. H, Major. Lieut. C. W. Robertson, of Co. A, was appointed Adjutant; Billy Morris, of Co. D, Ser- geant-major; Robert L. Cobb, Ordnance Sergeant; Clay Roberts, Quartermaster; Jo. Newberry, Commissary; Dr. Gould, Surgeon; and Dr. W. B. Mills, Assistant Surgeon.
To fill the vacancies created by the election of regimental officers, Lieut. A. Allman was elected Captain of Co. B; Lieut. John B. Dortch, Captain of Co. E; and Lient. E. Sexton, Captain of Co. H. Col. Stacker resigned just one month after his election, and Lieut .- col. Sugg was then promoted to full Colonel, Lockert to Lieutenant-colonel, and Adjutant C. W. Robertson was elected Major. Lieut. T. E. Mallory, of Co. E, was appointed Adjutant in Robertson's stead.
We had built log-huts and gone into winter-quarters inside the fort, and were quite comfortable. Our friends in Clarksville sent us good things by nearly every boat; and some of the companies of the regiment were raised in the immediate vicinity of the fort, and their friends and relatives visited them frequently.
On January 19th, 1862, we marched to Fort Henry, twelve miles across the country, on the Tennessee River. We returned in about ten days, and on Febru- ary 6th were ordered back, but learned of the surrender of the fort and of our brigade commander, Gen. Tilghman, before we reached it.
On the 11th Forrest's battalion of cavalry had a fight near Fort Donelson, kill- ing two or three Federals and capturing one. This man when brought in was a show. He was the first man in blue uniform we had ever seen, but the sight of them soon become common enough.
During the battle of Fort Donelson, which took place February 14th and 15th, 1862, the regiment remained most of the time in the fort. Capt. Beaumont's company (A) was detailed to man the heavy guns at the river, and had a terrific artillery duel with the enemy's gun-boats, finally driving them back and foiling them in their efforts to pass the fort. Lieut. W. C. Allen, of Capt. Beaumont's company, was complimented in an official report for his gallantry on this oe- casion.
On the evening of the 15th four companies-B, C, D, and E-were sent out to reënforce Col. Roger Hanson's Second Kentucky Regiment, which had been liter- ally cut to pieces. The Forty-ninth Tennessee was with us, and Lieut .- col. Alfred Robb of that regiment was killed on the occasion. That night about 12 o'clock we evacuated the fort and marched up to Dover, two miles. There we stood shivering in the cold for hours, while the three Generals-Buckner, Floyd, and Pillow-held a council of war in the old hotel on the river-bank. The enemy's camp-fires blazed brightly all around us, and looked cheerful enough as we stamped our feet in the snow. We expected orders to cut our way through them, but in- stead we were ordered back to the fort, and reached it just before daylight. In a
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MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
short while a courier came from General Buckner to Colonel Sugg with an order to raise a white flag over the fort. Curses both loud and deep followed this intelligence. There was no white flag in the regiment, nobody expecting to need one, but Ordnance Sergeant R. L. Cobb had a white sheet, which was run up at daylight. Nearly half the regiment escaped from the fort. All the field officers, and about five hundred and fifty others, men and officers, remained and were sur- rendered. The regimental officers were sent to Fort Warren, the company officers to Johnson's Island, and the non-commissioned officers and privates to Camp Douglas, Chicago. All that summer they remained in prison. On September IS, 1862, the regiment was exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss., and officers and men once more met on the soil of the Confederacy.
On the 20th at Jackson, Miss., the regiment was reorganized. The company officers were as follows: Co. A, Capt. W. C. Allen, Montgomery county; Co. B. Capt. George W. Pease, Pennsylvania; Co. C, Capt. Jackson, Alabama; Co. D, Capt. Sam Graham, Stewart county; Co. E, Capt. T. E. Mallory, Montgomery county; Co. F, Capt. James Dunn, Stewart county; Co. G, Capt. Tom Mays, Cheatham county; Co. H, Capt. E. Sexton, Stewart county; Co. I, Capt. Sam Allen, Stewart county; Co. K, Capt. Curtis, Humphreys county.
On the 24th an election was held for regimental officers. Col. Sugg and Major Robertson were both reelected. Capt. T. W. Beaumont was elected Lieutenant- colonel; Lieut. Williams, of Co. H, was appointed Adjutant; J. B. Sugg, Quarter- master; Jolin L. W. Power, Commissary; W. Turner, Sergeant-major; Cave Morris, Ordnance Sergeant; and Dr. R. D. McCauley, Surgeon.
October 8th the regiment was sent by rail to Corinth to reinforce Gen. Van Dorn; found that officer retreating, and fell back with him to Grenada, having sev- eral severe skirmishes with the enemy. On December 24th Jefferson Davis and Gen. Joseph Johnston reviewed the troops, and the next day they were ordered to Vicksburg. Fought the enemy under Gen. Sherman on the 28th, and drove them back to their gun-boats.
In November, 1862, a month previous, the regiment had been temporarily con- solidated with the First Tennessee Battalion, of which S. H. Colms, of Sparta, was Major, and John W. Childress, now of Nashville, was Adjutant. Dr. R. T. Roth- rock, now of Nashville, was Surgeon of the consolidated regiment and battalion.
On January 5, 1863, the men were ordered to Port Hudson, Louisiana, and re- mained there four months. When the Federal gun-boat "Indianola" ran by the batteries at Vicksburg and showed herself above Port Hudson, Col. Beaumont offered to take the Fiftieth and either capture or destroy her, but the offer was refused. On the night of March 14th occurred a most terrific bombardment that shook the earth and illuminated the heavens. No grander or more awful specta- cle could well be imagined.
On May 2d the regiment left Port Hudson and marched on foot to Jackson, Mississippi.
On May 12th, at Raymond, Mississippi, occurred a warm engagement with the Federals, in which the Fiftieth took an active part. During most of the engage- ment it was detached from the rest of the brigade, and for five hours held the en- emy in check. Col. Sugg commanded the brigade during this action, and Lieut .- col. Tom Beaumont was in command of the regiment. During the engagement he was wounded in the head and knocked down. Two men stepped from the
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REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
ranks to carry him back, supposing him dead, but he sprung to his feet and, order- ing them into line, resumed command of his regiment.
At Jackson, some days after, Major Robertson, of the Fiftieth, commanded the skirmish line and made a gallant stand against a large force of Federals, for which he was complimented in an official order by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The reg- iment remained in Mississippi until September, 1863, when it was sent to Georgia to reënforce Gen. Bragg. On the way the train on which the Fiftieth was carried came in collision with another at Big Shanty, Ga., and thirteen men were killed and seventy-five wounded. Capt. T. E. Mallory, of Co. E, was among the dan- gerously wounded, but afterward recovered.
September 18 the regiment reached Bragg's army, on the eve of the battle of Chickamauga, and next morning went into the fight. It was nearly annihilated. A letter now before me, written by Col. Sugg, Oct. 10, 1863, says: "We were in it three hours; one hundred and eighty-six men went into the fight, fifty-four only came out. Col. Beaumont and Maj. Robertson killed, Maj. Colms severely wounded, Capt. Williams killed, Lieuts. Hays and Whitley killed, Lient. White will probably die, Capts. Pease and Sexton wounded, Lieut. Holmes Wilson se- verely wounded, Lieut. Wheatly wounded, and a host of men, among them Sam and George Dunn; George Hornberger and John Crunk killed; Isbell missing; John Benton, Billy Boiseau, George Warfield!, Bob McReynolds, John Willough- by, Holt Franklin, and Robert J. Franklin, wounded."
Col. Sugg commanded the brigade in this action, and in an official report Gen. Hill, corps commander, gave him the credit of capturing ten steel guns from the enemy. Beaumont fell early in the action, and Maj. Robertson took command of the regiment. He ordered his men to drag these captured guns to the summit of the ridge, and turning them on the now retreating foe, he put them to flight. Again on Tuesday morning, when the enemy was making an obstinate resistance in a dense thicket, another Confederate brigade, which had been ordered to dis- lodge them, refused to advance. The men of this brigade were then ordered to lie down, and Trigg's brigade, commanded by Col. Sugg, with a yell charged over their friends, and into the enemy's lines, and drove them from their position. Here Maj. Robertson fell mortally wounded, and Col. Sugg was struck four times, though not seriously injured.
The loss of the two brave officers, Col. Beaumont and Maj. Robertson, was seri- ously felt by the regiment. These two heroes had gone out as officers in the same company. One was Captain and the other was First Lieutenant of Company A. They were fast friends in life, and in death they were not divided. No braver and nobler man ever offered up his life for any cause than Lieut .- col. Thomas W. Beaumont. He was one of four brothers who entered the Confederate service, three of whom were killed in battle. He was born and reared in Clarksville, Tenn .; studied law, but had adopted journalism as a profession, and at the time of the breaking out of the war was the editor of the Nashville Banner, the most promi- nent Whig paper in the State. He was a man of high intelligence and cour- age, and never faltered upon what he thought to be the path of duty for fear of consequences.
Maj. Christopher W. Robertson was a native of Dickson county, Tenn., and had just graduated with high honors at the Lebanon law school when the call to arms came. To my mind he was the noblest Roman of them all; brave and firm 36
562
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
and self-reliant-proud without arrogance, pious without hypocrisy, intelligent without display; he was as modest and gentle as a woman, yet utterly fearless in danger. When he stepped to the front and gave the word of command, all obeyed him, for he was a born leader of men; and yet he was a brother to the humblest soldier in the ranks. In the twenty-third year of his age, in front of his regiment, and leading his men on to victory, he fell to rise no more.
Green be the turf above thee, Friend of my better days; None knew thee but to love thee, None named thee but to praise.
A few weeks after the fight at Chickamauga came the battle of Missionary Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863, and the regiment again suffered severely. Here Col. Sugg was mortally wounded and taken from the field. Fletcher Beaumont, the Adju- tant, and a younger brother of Col. Beaumont, while leading a charge, was killed with the battle-flag in his hands. Lieut. Joel Ruffin, of Company E, was shot through both legs, and wounded a third time in the thigh. The regiment lost many others of its best men.
Col. Cyrus A. Sugg, who lost his life in this engagement, was a farmer before the war, living in Distriet No. 1, Montgomery county. He was twenty-nine years of age, remarkably intelligent, popular with all his neighbors, and beloved by all the men when he took command of the regiment. He was cool and col- lected in the hour of danger; generally went into battle smoking his pipe, and never suffered himself to become excited during an engagement. After he was wounded he was carried back to Marietta, Ga., where he lingered some two months, and died in December, 1863.
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