USA > Wisconsin > History of the First Wisconsin Battery Light Artillery > Part 22
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While we can call on Pink and Green or sombre Brown and Black;
Methinks I hear you say, these colors do not agree, man,
With proud Columbia's flag that waves above a Freeman.
But let me just refer to Abram's proclamation,
Which says that Black and Brown are free throughout the nation ;
That fiat has gone forth to every bondman's cot,
When Lincoln says they are free. who dare say they Arnot;
The arts and sciences are not left in disguise,
For have we not five Smiths and one that's very Wise,
An Errickson whose works have filled our foes with wonder, Whose bulwarks guard our coast regardless of their thunder.
We have our Herrick with his safes, and Spaulding with his glue,
And Armstrong with his guns to help the matter through. What more do we need to put our foes to flight.
Right Wheel him into Line the noted Sergeant Hoyt;
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Besides all these, we have our Cassels and our Halls, Although we make our homes within thin canvas walls.
And for our arms we would not wear a dagger, man,
While we can find a Lance or two, my dear friend Mr. Hagger- man.
'Tis not considered safe to lean upon a broken Reed, But while we have a Peck of Grub we need not lack for feed; And in our nightly vigils 'twould be a great mishap, Should we depend on Messmer's aid before we took a Knapp; In making rhymes like these our brain 'tis apt to puzzle, There are not many words to correspond with Buzzel; And I suppose that one might the English language ogle Before he found another word to jingle with Reprogle; For this important reason I let the others go,
Only pausing for a moment for Trowbridge, Blake and Coe .; Perhans before I close it would be as well to understand If any are offended the remedy is at hand,
Just make your wishes known at long range with a poker. Your humble servant's ready, his name is
JOSEPH BOWKER.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE RED RIVER CAMPAIGN.
. "Good-bye, girls; if we don't get shot. We'll come back; otherwise, not."
O N the first of April Captain Foster returned to the Bat- tery and assumed command thereof and Lieutenant Webster took his place at the head of the right section. On the third of the month General McClernand issued an order assigning Captain Foster to the position of Chief of Engineers on his staff. The Captain did not want the place, as it did not pay him enough to maintain the position in a manner suitable for the rank of that officer, and as his pay and rank would not be raised for such service he decided to decline the appointment. This, at least, is the reason he gave to those in the Battery, but in the letter written to General McClernand declining the position he said "that the good of the service required his pres- ence in the Battery, for it stood greatly in need of fitting up," etc. Whatever may have been the true reason for declin- ing the appointment the latter was not good, for the Battery, save for the want of a few horses, which were not to be had at that time, was never in better or more efficient shape, as had but recently been attested by the military commission ap- pointed to inspect the troops in the city. It had beaten the best Regular batteries in the Department in drill, and was in as good discipline as it ever was before or afterwards. It had six new guns and a complete outfit of new harness. The men were well supplied with clothing and all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life. It is quite probable that the Captain did not intend any reflection upon any other officer in the Bat- tery when he wrote thus, but it virtually amounted to that. He probably thought that such an excuse would be the more readily accepted Be that as it may, he was permitted to re- main with the Battery and, at once. with his characteristic energy, took hold to improve its condition if possible.
In the meantime the veterans were returning from their furlough and it was not long until we were pretty well manned with our own men. General McClernand had gone to Texas to look after the part of his corps in that State, and was there when the news was received of General Banks's disaster up Red River. He was at once ordered to go to the relief of Banks and his army, and arrived in New Orleans on the 22d of April with part of his command. Finding the Battery there he demanded that it be assigned to his com-
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mand, which was done, and he then ordered us to be ready to march by the next day or as soon thereafter as we were needed. When this order was received the men threw up their hats and cheered long and loud, for all had confidence in General McClernand. They remembered how he had come to us after the disastrous repulse at Chickasaw. Bayou; how he had led us directly to victory at Arkansas Post; how, during all the hard fighting about Vicksburg, his corps had been in advance; that under his leadership the corps had never been repulsed, and they felt confident that he would wrest victory from Banks's defeat.
We left New Orleans by boat on the evening of the 25th and arrived at Alexandria about 11 a. m. on the 28th. All was confusion and excitement. The army was about five miles up the river and expecting a fight momentarily. It was rumored that our cavalry had been driven in by the enemy and that the whole army was on the retreat toward the town. McClernand ordered the Battery to the front as soon as it could be de- barked, and then, with his staff, started for the advance. The right section was the first to get on shore and Lieutenant Webster did not wait for the others, but gave order "For- ward; trot; march," and was soon on the way.
He incidentally discovered, en route, that his squad was short a lead and swing driver and a gunner, who, lingering between camp and the landing to bid good-bye to their own or some other fellows' girls, were left. It is worthy of remark that the machinery of the right gun went right along, not- withstanding the loss of these important cogs. At New Or- leans Jack Viets got down out of the wheel saddle to be num- ber one. Jack and Gabe were out among 'em one night and when they returned Gabe assisted Jack to his blankets, and, tucking him in, went whooping about the camp. At next evening roll call Gabe was reduced and Jack promoted to his place. When Lieutenant Webster discovered the absence of Viets he promptly reinstated Armstrong, and upon rejoining which he did by next boat, Viets found himself again a high private; this was his punishment. Of the other culprits, Ward and Cameron were ordered 15 days' extra duty, of which im- mediate work at the front deprived them of 13, and they owe it yet. George W. Scott, with the wisdom of the monk, en- listed as cook, receiving 50 cents a month extra from each member of the squad. condoled with Viets in his chagrin and smiled benignly at the pair of "Mikes" digging sinks and burying offal. But at the first move forward Scott abandoned pots and kettles and climbed into the saddle.
Captain Foster followed with the rest of the battery as soon as it was off the boats, which was but a few minutes. Occa- sionally the report of artillery could be heard, when the
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troops moving to the front would press forward with renewed zeal, as they feared their comrades at the front needed their assistance. As we passed out of the place we met crowds of people of all ages, classes, sizes and conditions, as well as all shades of color, with all kinds of conveyances, and carrying all conceivable kinds of personal property. Sutlers were fly- ing with the more valuable portions of their stocks, having, in their haste, left the greater part of their goods to the ten- der mercies of the soldiers. There were soldiers and citizens, old and young, privates and officers, white people and black people, men and women, people on foot and people on horse-, back, people in wagons and people in carriages; there were trains of army wagons and single wagons, loaded and un- loaded, all intent upon making the greatest distance to the rear at the least possible time. One retreating Captain told the Lieutenant that there was no use in going out, as the whole army had been ordered to retreat. Lieutenant Webster said to him that we had been ordered to the front and we were going if we had to fight to get there, and we parted. We saw piles of hay and grain burned by the wayside, there not being transportation with which to move it to a place of safety. A little further along we saw a building in which were stored a quantity of commissary stores on fire.
Here and there were seen abandoned camps, where tents, . camp and mess chests, officers' baggage and men's knapsacks and clothing were burning. 'Still we pressed on through the dust and heat, which were almost intolerable, expecting every moment to hear the roar of artillery and the rattle of mus- ketry, but none greeted our ears. As we neared the front the excitement seemed to die out, and when we arrived there we found all as quiet as if on parade, but they were prepared for a fight all the same. There was a force of the enemy in our immediate front. but its strength was not known. When we reported for duty we were told to remain where we were for the present. There were portions of the Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Corps. commanded by A. J. Smith, about two-thirds of the Thirteenth Corps and the Ninteenth Corps, or what was left of them after the defeat at Mansfield. in the expedition, and when the Sixteenth. Seventeenth and Thirteenth Corps boys recognized our Battery as it came up they broke into cheers and filled the air with their hats to show their joy at again having us with them, while such expressions as "Now the rebs will catch h-Il." "We are all right for artil- lery now." and "No reb battery can stand against Foster's men," were heard coming from the ranks of our comrades of the Vicksburg and Jackson campaigns. We had not been arrived more than 15 minutes before the army was ordered to fall back a few miles, form new lines and prepare for defense.
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When the new line was formed we were permitted to break ranks for the purpose of getting supper and rest. There was a flock of sheep quietly grazing in a field in front of the Bat- tery, and as the ranks were broken there was a charge made by the Battery, supported by the infantry, upon the said flock, and in less time than it takes to write it there was not a living "messenger of defeat" to tell the tale of their massacre.
Again we moved from the second position to the third. Guns in battery in a road, a dry ditch and a ragged hedge in front. At evening roll Captain Foster told us that discipline must not be relaxed now that we were in the field; that next evening there would be a parade at which we must appear with boots polished and sabers scoured. We broke ranks with a whoop, and a shell-from a battery captured by the rebs at Pleasant Hill from the Chicago Mercantile Battery, three- inch Rodmans-came from the woods a short mile away and passed over a Wisconsin regiment on our left. The whooping ceased and all eyes were turned towards the report and the smoke issuing from the margin of the wood. Captain Foster inquired, "What's that;" and the boys replied, "A rebel gun." The Captain climbed up on the battery wagon to get a better view, and another shell came over us unpleasantly close to Fos- ter's hat. He slipped off the rounded top, striking on a wheel en route to the ground, commanding, "To your guns." We rushed to our guns as a third shell ploughed up the road be- side our gun. Other shells may have come in. General Cam- eron rode over and we begged for permission to reply. He assented after asking if we thought we "could make it inter- esting for them." We did. And the infantry cheered. Com- ing back he halted at our left flank-we were in battery with the right on the left-and looking along the guns remarked to an Aid "Those fellows fight like the devil."
Concerning this event Albert Roberts, drummer of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry, wrote to The National Tribune some years after, as follows:
"The 1st Wisconsin Battery stands very high in my estima- tion, and for good shooting I have expressed it extremely mild to what some of the Battery boys could do if they would let the facts be known to the interested public.
"I recollect that at Alexandria, La., in 1864, the enemy planted a gun on the edge of the prairie about one mile from our camp, the ground descending a little toward them, and the view unobstructed by anything. They fired two shots into our lines from it, the first one going into the ground about 15 or 20 feet in front of my tent and did not burst. The other passed overhead and exploded in the rear of our lines. We were camped in line of battle and expected to be attacked at any time. The 1st Wisconsin Battery was in position close on
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the right of my regiment, loaded one of their rifle guns and gave them one shot, which dismounted their gun; or, to use the expression which I heard at the time: 'Ha! ha! knocked it into a cocked hat the first time.'
"We did not have any more trouble from that quarter, the enemy keeping in the woods."
The next day we pulled out of camp with a support of in- fantry and, striking the enemy a mile out, skirmished with them all day, driving them beyond Clio Plantation. They would make a stand and smash away at our infantry, getting into line, with infantry and their captured battery until we got into position and skip out when we opened fire. It was very disagreeable for us to be halted between high Cherokee rose hedges and have the bullets and piecs of shell come skip- ping through the hedge, or over us, as several times happened. We wanted to see who was shooting at us. That night we fell back to camp and the next morning the Johnnies were in their old proximity. That day we drove them back to Big Hill, under about the same conditions. The country was level, but interspersed with groves and Cherokee rose hedges higher than a house. On this trip we passed the Lagree Plantation of "Uncle Tom" fame; Colonel Kegwin commanded and seemed fearful that the rebs were leading us into a trap. Once we ran out into a field and while in line of battle saw the rebel battery through the gaps in the hedges passing along in nearly our front, at just nice distance, but Kegwin would not let us open fire, although Gabe and other gunners begged leave to 'unjint' them. The least bit of enterprise would have bagged a part, if not the whole, of that battery. We alone could easily have 'unjinted' half of it. That night as we fell back after dark every building was burned along the route.
The following morning Lieutenant Webster was put in charge of a detail to build works of temporary protection and was directed by the chief of artillery to use some bales of cot- ton that were handy by for that purpose. As the work was nearly completed an order was received from General Banks to use no cotton in the fortifications and to take out all that had been used, which was done. This did not increase Gen- eral Banks's popularity with the Battery boys 'a little bit.' The Western soldiers were loud in their denunciations of Gen- eral Banks, carrying it so far as to groan and hiss at him when he appeared, while the presence of either McClernand or A. J. Smith was a signal for long and prolonged cheering from every regiment and division in their commands, and as the cheering died away in one part of the field it would be taken up like an echo and resounded again and again until there was one continuous shout and the air filled with hats and caps.
At Alexandria there are rapids or falls in the Red River,
CHARLES DUNBAR.
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over which boats can pass in high water, but when the water is low they must remain on whichever side the rapids they may happen to be. When Banks's expedition first arrived at Alexandria the water was high and the fleet which accompa- nied him ascended the river, gunboats and all, but now the river had fallen until the gunboats could not be run over the rapids. The transports, drawing but little water, made the passage in good shape, but the gunboats were caught in a trap, while the water was constantly falling. One of the gun- boats had already fallen into the hands of the enemy and been destroyed and it was seriously contemplated destroying the re- maining boats to keep them and their armament from falling into rebel hands. General Banks had consulted his engi- neers, who were West Pointers, and they could devise no means by which the boats could be gotten over the rapids. Colonel Joseph Baily, of the 4th Wisconsin Regiment, sub- mitted a plan by which the boats could be saved and which plan General Banks submitted to his engineers, but the latter scouted at the same and volunteered the opinion that it was the vision of a dreamer, or something to that effect. But Gen- eral Banks, who had not yet imbibed the idea that all of wis- dom and knowledge was bound up in a West Point education, knowing that a failure in an attempt to save the boats was more commendable than their wilful destruction, gave Colo- nel Baily permission to try his method and gave him all the assistance he required. His method was one well known to the lumbermen of the Northwest, and consisted of a wing dam so constructed as to confine the water to a narrow channel and thereby raise it over the rapids until the boats would float over in safety. The world knows the result. The gunboats were saved, and by a practical Western lumberman, unskilled in en- gineering. but well-equipped with practical common sonse.
While the work of building the dam was going on the rank and file of the army had little to do but sit around their campfires and discuss the situation, the object of the expedi- tion, the manner in which it had been conducted, and the disas- trous defeat which had befallen the undertaking. Here had been an army marching in the enemy's country with an im- mense wagon train in front of the greater part of the forces, and when it had gotten strung out like a snake in a water pipe, where it could not turn itself, it was attacked by the enemy, thrown into confusion, then a stampede, the wagons blocking the way so that reinforcements could not reach the front to assist in the fight until the advance was routed. and only arrived just in time to be beaten and captured in turn. One evening a discussion was had around a campfire in the Battery, during which expressions concerning the generalship of the expedition were freely and forcibly given. After all
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had spoken Bob Hodge took his pipe from his mouth and said: 'General Banks may be a good statesman, but he is no warrior.' In that little speech Bob had told much truth. If General Banks had remained in New Orleans and let General Franklin, or A. J. Smith, or McClernand conduct that campaign no such surprises would have been recorded.
"It is undoubtedly a fact, however, that there was an un- derstanding between General Banks and Kirby Smith, that there was to be no fighting; that the Federal army was to be permitted to go into that country and take out a large quan- tity of cotton, but there must of necessity be a show of force made by the invading army. Dick Taylor was not in the scheme or did not approve of it, and showed fight and won a decisive victory. Had he failed it is more than probable that he would have been removed from his command, but he suc- ceeded and they dared not censure him. Be that as it may, the matter has been investigated by the proper authorities and General Banks exonerated from all blame. It has passed into history and there we leave it."
INCIDENTS.
Comrade Herrick writes:
"Do you remember when we went out from Alexandria after the Johnnies we had a running skirmish. And those hedges, we will never forget. One place we came in battery near a large house, fired a few times and was ordered to cease, but, of course, we had to go into the house. The dining table was set and it looked as though they had just gotten through a meal, for there was nothing eatable on the table. But we did find the wine cupboard and a few samples, and having no other place to put it, we put it where we always did good things, in our mouths. I well remember the piano. One of the boys was playing, and the first we knew the house was on fire, and one of the boys danced on the top of it as long as it was safe to remain inside. I got a feather pillow and a nice wine glass. The latter I have yet. If I mistake not, the name of the place was Moore. This is the only relic I have of the Red River trip. We had a barrel of sugar on the caisson for sev- eral days, but was relieved of it when we crossed the pontoon bridge on the bows of the steamboats. I do not think it was thrown away, as it was put on one of the boats, and also when we fell back near Alexandria. when the sutler got scared and ran, the boys saved his goods for him. I got a cad of tobacco and buried it near where we used a few cotton bales for breast- works, that Banks made so much fuss over. Now, I did not take this for my own use, as I did not then, nor do I now, use the weed in that shape: smoking is enough for me."
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THE RETREAT.
On the morning of the 12th of May the last boat passed safely over the dam, or rather through the chute caused by the dam, and the army was faced to the rear and headed for the Mississippi River. The Nineteenth Army Corps, General Franklin commanding, took the lead, followed by detach- ments of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps, under A. J. Smith, the Thirteenth Corps commanded by Brigadier-Gen- eral Lawler and the cavalry division commanded by General Arnold. The latter covered the rear in the retreat to the river. General McClernand was sick and had to be carried from the hotel to the boat upon which he took passage down the river. This was a sore disappointment to the men of his command, for they thought if he was only on duty with them they would come through all right, and were not so confident with regard to the ability of the others.
One section of the Battery under command of Lieutenant Hackett, was assigned to General Arnold and was engaged with the enemy more or less daily until the march was com- pleted. At Yellow Bayou the section had a pretty hard little fight, losing one horse from having half. his head shot away, and the hind wheels and two ammunition chests of one of their caissons. The cavalry lost upwards of 200 horses and men. The enemy had anticipated our movements and had prepared to intercept our retreat by setting a trap for us to enter, and had it not been for the gunboats they might have made us more trouble than they did, but as both the army and the fleet moved at once, and side by side, they could not operate successfully, and were content to keep up a running fight in front and rear, with an occasional dash on the flank of our train. Alone, the gunboats would have been at the mercy of the rebel sharpshooters and guerrillas, as they could plant batteries behind the levee and fire upon them with compara- tive safety, as, owing to the height of the river banks, it was impossible to return the fire with their heavy guns, while sharpshooters could lie behind a bank of earth or a fallen tree and pick thier men off. But as the land troops followed the river they prevented this annoyance by being on the ground to take a hand in any attempt on their part to interfere with the passage of the boats.
The march was not more hazardous nor so long as the re- treat from Cumberland Gap, but it was more tiresome and worrying. owing to the heat and dust. There was very little, if any, air stirring and the dust was very fine and very deep and, as it was stirred by constant tread of passing men, horses and wagons, it pervaded the atmosphere until there was no escape. It may be truthfully said that we ate. breathed and drank dust until we began to think that the words, "Dust
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thou art, etc.," were about to be verified in our cases. During the march we were almost constantly on the move, and yet always at a halt, at times being 15 hours going 10 miles, yet we were required to remain in harness ready to start at a mo- ment's notice. Sometimes we would be kept up all night in anticipation of starting momentarily and not move a mile. Many a time the men would have their coffee boiling when the order to move would be received and the fire would be left for some other squad. At first the boys would throw the coffee away and hang the camp kettle in which it had been boiling on a gun carriage, hoping for a more favorable opportunity, but it did not take them long to "tumble" to the situation, and when the order came to move along one man would seize some fire, another would provide some wood, while two others would suspend the coffee kettle on a pole and carry it along until the next halt occurred. Sometimes it would be half a mile and then again it would be less than 50 yards. It was said that the wagon train alone was over five miles in length, mostly empty wagons that General Banks had charged the hosts of Dick Taylor with. Perhaps that accounted for the empty victory gained by the latter. It required more general- ship to bring that wagon train away in safety than it did to get the army away. The retreat was a successful one, nothing being abandoned that could be of any use to the enemy. Nearly if not quite all the sugar houses and cotton gins were burned as our army passed, but if done by orders of the military or by stragglers was not known to the writer. All horses and cattle found on the route were taken along. The former were poor and small, and were of little use to the army, while the cattle were inferior and run mostly to bones and horns.
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