USA > Wisconsin > History of the services of the Third Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery in the Civil War of the United States, 1861-65 > Part 4
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RECOLLECTIONS BY E. BEAUMONT.
The next day after the destruction of the battery,
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the only piece saved (a howitzer) was posted on the left near the Tennesee River facing Missionary Ridge. On Tuesday a line of earthworks were laid out and entrenching began and a lunette was thrown up. This was afterwards Fort Wood; onr lone howitzer occupied it first; afterward siege guns were placed therein. Here too was a gallows where many a Union man had been hanged for his loyalty. This day the last foraging was done; a load of corn was brought in from ground quickly occupied by the rebels. The men worked like beavers and by Tuesday night a line of works were built, too strong for assult by the weary men.
Immediately our horse feed became scarce and grazing was soon used up; some of the boys would crawl through the lines and pull grass to feed, while they would be in the shelter of anything to screen them from sharpshooters. They would put the grass in corn sacks and drag them in behind themselves to our own lines. The rebels were in a short range but never shot anyone, undoubtedly thinking it was sur- render or starvation in a short time. The little corn soon disappeared and the horses in the best condition were sent to Bridgeport to save their lives; many had already died tied to trees or posts, which they knawed as long as they had strength. During the siege 10,000 horses and mules died of starvation. All this time the besriged were throwing up intrenchments and continually strenghtening the lines, heavier guns were placed In position and we were drawn into the out- skirts of the town. The great problem now was on how little a man could subsist; it was really pitiful to
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see the men scratch over the ground where the mules had been fed to find a kernel of corn that might be trod in the mud (a horse does not look over ground closer or make cleaner work of a dirt pile.) Many of the mules had to be sent to bring crackers over the mountains by packing, others were being used to carry the wounded over the same mountains from the camp across the Tennessee, opposite Chattanooga where the poor fellows were without food. Those who survived the trip, were landed at Stevenson, Ala. only to receive a handful of cracker dust,-not a very satisfying amount of food after riding in an army wagon over sixty miles of all sized stones. We suffer- ed with cold as the weather became severe; all stumps and shade trees to be found were dug up to burn. A large raft of logs was sent down the Tennessee river to destroy our potoon bridge but our boys captured it, saved the bridge and made firewood of the logs. Our rations kept diminishing, and we received but a. pint of corn for three day's rations. We parched the corn. ground it in coffee mills and made a porridge of it: frequently while preparing this dish. children of the miserably poor and destitute natives would drift into onr camp and after wistfully gazing upon it would say, "I like colm." Such pathetic appeals al- ways resulted in receiving a portion of the coarse and scant supply. A corn loaf of unsifted meal. baked in a common sized bake kettle, would be cut into 20 parts, and would sell for 50c a piece. Cow's heads divested of meat would bring $1. Forsoup purposes, animal tripes were eagerly eaten after a homely pre- paration. All this time the rebel cavalry were raid-
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ing the Union lines of communication north of the river and operating in East Tennessee. These opera- tions resulted in our loosing the best quality of our army rations enroute on the backs of mules. Some of the boxes of crackers passed over to the battery had got wet and were spoiled,-a sour, mushy lot of dough utterly unfit for food. yet this stuff was eager- ly sorted over, the dry and sound pieces separated from slush while crowds of half starved wretches stood around, and clawed, and almost fought over the sticky mess to get an inch of sound cracker out of it. Comrade Beaumont (the contributor of these recollections) says that years after a member of the 15th Wis., speaking to him of army life, not knowing he had ever "enjoyed it," told him of his fighting for those halt inches of crackers. When he laughed at the recital the poor fellow thought that he doubted his story.
After the battle of Missionary Ridge came a divi- sion of the battery; some were already across the Tennessee from Chattanooga, some were put on the Steamer Missionary, with our howitzer and a detail was made for guards on her trips from Chattanooga to Knoxville. Thesestatements of Comrades Plackett and Beaumont are fully corroborated by other com- munications received from survivors, all of whom coincide in feeling that this state of siege was the dark- est period of their lives. Occasionally gleams of pleas- ure would occur, two of most noteworthy nature was in the arrival to our command of Comrades Har_ lan S. Howard and Thomas Boyle, who had been taken prisoners at Chickamanga, and who after most
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thrilling experiences had successfully escaped, not only from their captors but undoubtedly from death in prison. They were most heartily greeted by the battery and we are pleased to say they still live, Sept. 1st, 1901.
Though frequent details were made from our com- mand, the remnant now occupied Ft. Phelps, where the regular service was drilling upon and handling the heavy guns, in which they became as proficient as they were with the field artillery. Gen. Sherman's advance on Atlanta gave an opportunity for our boys to see more campaigning, and many of them volun- teered to take a hand in the business.
- State of Wisconsin. Adjutant General's Office,
Madison, Dec. 1, 1896. Mr. H. H. G. Bradt, Eureka, Wis.
Sir :- Replying to your letter of 29th ult., here- with returned, I have to say, that the records of the 3rd Batt'y, Wis. Lt. Art'y, on file in this office, show that the following named members of said battery were detached in Batt'y "M," Ist Ill. Lt. Art'y, April 26, 1864 by S. O. No. 63, Maj. Cotter:
Joel B. Bates, George A. Borst, Alfred Brink, Maurice Crimmings, Norman Everson, George W. Griffin, Edward Harroune, Ansel Hayes, Silas S. Her- rington, Charles A. Hunt, George J. Jarvis, George Knieram, Orland E. Pattee, William Plackett, Joseph C. Redmore, Thomas Rundle, Michael Scanlan, Andrew Sheffield, Charles Sickles, Henry M. Silsbee, Rasselas R. Stillwell, Ivey W. Tubbs, Albert Turck, Adam W.
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Uline, Abram VanAernam, Seneca S. Van Ness, Rich- ard Van Slyke. John H. Van Wie.
The following named members of the Batt'y were detached at the same time by the same order, but the records do not show what service they were detached in. "Detailed by S. O. No. 63, to report to Maj. Res- nolds, chief of Ar't 20th A. C., by Maj. Cotter." Bat- tery "M," 1st N. Y. Art .:
John Anderson, Esau Beaumont, Russell H. Bene- dict, Abel H. Bennett, Moses H. Bowen, Alexander Clark, Cassius M. Davis. Francisco H. Davis, Emmett Dunn. Wm. J. K. Bowen. Myron D. Reece, Jeremiah Rode, Alfred S. Weymouth, Alvin H. Weymouth, Wel- lington White.
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On the 30th of June. all the detail were ready for departure for Cleveland. Tenn .. and after many good- byes, and most sincere wishes for their welfare, by those that remained in Ft. Phelps, they left the next day to engage in one of the most momentous move- ments of the war, and a campaign that far exceeded in circumstances of great and constant action any- thing they had ever experienced.
At Rocky Face Ridge the enemy was first met, then followed engagements of much magnitude at Rosaca. Calhoun. Adairsville, Picket's Mills, New Hope Church, Pine Top. Hanesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta and Jonesboro. During the cam- paign of five months they were under fire 82 days by actual count from Win. Plckett's memoranda.
In the advance south, the campaign was notable for continnons reconnoissances, skirmishing at all
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hours, flanking movements, and desperate charging over fearfully precipitous mountains, and discharges of avalanches of ammunition, but nothing could with- stand the advance of the Union troops, and when Atlanta was secured our boys returned to Ft. Phelps -after receiving the thanks of the commanders of Battery M. of N. Y., and Battery M. of Ill., who certi- fied to their having done their duty ou all occasions to their satisfaction. On this campaign Charles Sickles was killed and Rasellas R. Stilwell, Michael Scanlin and Thomas Rundle were wounded, which comprised all the loss to our detail. Soon after, in October, the men that enlisted at the organization of the battery in 1869,-with the exception of 33, who reenlisted-were mustered out, their time expiring. They returned to their Wisconsin homes. Some reen- listed in other organizations, and some returned to the south to engage in other operations. The 33 men that reenlisted received a furlough and on returning brought a number of recruits, but not enough to com- plete a full battery and as a strong garrison was still needed at Chattanooga a part of the men were divided among the 6th and Sth Wis. batteries and all of the said batteries done garrison duty, principally at Mur- freesboro, Ten .; ours being in Lmate Palmer, of Fortress Rosecrans, to the extreme right of the bat- tle line we occupied at Stone River. We here held the lmette with field guns and a fort adjacent having siege guns, and drilled frequently on both; it was in this camp we learned of the assasination of President Lineolu, which caused the greatest excitement among the troops here, and brought on several individual
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encounters in Murfreesboro between our men and the rebel soldiers, who were returning to their homes. I spoke of Revolutionary soldiers' graves, I found on our extreme left. One day a party of us took a trip to the extreme right of our line and there found other Revolutionary soldiers' graves and probably between the two extreme points we fought over others. We will here mention that in our marches we passed by the graves of Presidents Jackson, Taylor and Polk, each having relatives in arms against the Union they fought for, or presided over as chief magistrates.
In July we were ordered again to Chattanooga, remaining there long enough to turn over to the goverment officers all our equipments, and to be mus- tered out. This date is placed upon our discharges as 3d of July, though in reality it did not occur until the 20th. While enroute for Madison, Wis., an incident occurred that marred our pleasure of the trip very much. Our battery and the 6th were loaded upon freight cars inside and the tops were both filled and while going between Tulllahoma, Tenn., and Nash- ville, the engineer of the train, who it was afterwards ascertained was a drunken rebel, tried his best to wreck the train by starting suddenly without warn- ing, and running at the highest rate of speed possible, then as suddenly as he could he would stop, and in that way two of the 6th battery boys were thrown between the cars and killed. Just after leaving Mur- freesboro the fellow stopped the train and as the boys rushed to seize and lynch him, he detached the engine going ahead a half a mile, he came back and dashed the engine into the train, then lit out for
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Nashville, leaving the boys to nurse their wrath while waiting nearly a day before securing another engine to pull us to Nashville.
Now, dear comrades, we present you in rather an imperfect way, what is really but a brief sketch of the battery's service obtainable now, and which many think should be ready for immediate distribu- tion, hence its incompleteness. This work was planned at the organization of the Battery associa- tion at St. Paul in 1896, and although the most earn est and assiduousefforts have been put forth to secure its completeness, it will be presented as we now have it and in hopes that at some time in the near future suitable and appropriate illustrations may be added.
I must say of this battery, I am proud of its his- tory, and deeply thankful of being one of its members. Many of its best and bravest went down to death, giving their young lives for their country and flag they loved so well. Many more received grievous wounds from which they still suffer, others by the fortune of war were prisoners in the hands of the enemy and after many days and months of alternate hope and fears, suffered to their death in the horrible prison pens, of Andersonville, Richmond and Dan- ville, where starvation and disease were more deadly than the storm of iron and lead upon the battle field. and where death was welcomed as a benefactor. And it is with a feeling of sadness that we recall the names of our patriot dead, the heroic deeds they done, and the ties that bound us together, as we stood side by side on the battlefield and endured the trials of a soldier's life, on the weary march. in camp or bivonac. Your Secretary,
H. H. G. BRADT.
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A FEW REMINISCENCES
Captain Drury was a man of much humor-two illustrations we give: Oct. 6, '63 he writes to the Racine Advocate, from a field hospital near Chatta- nooga: "My wound is doing remarkably well and as soon as Forrest gets through playing the d-l with the railroads I will start home. The surgeons of the army are having a nice little time over my wound. They say that by all the rules of surgery and anat- omy, I ought to have died in three or four hours, and some of them, the most enthusiastic in their pro- fession, are indignant because I can't see it. I was struck about an inch from the center of my body. three inches below my right nipple, the ball lodging between two of the ribs three inches from the spine. An incision was made in my back and the ball was removed with forceps. It is supposed that my liver was perforated-but a man that has pluck can get along without a liver."
A few days before the battle of Chickamauga when General Crittenden's corps was lying at Gordon's Mills waiting for General Rosencrans to come up, with the Fourteenth and Twentieth corps. a fight occurred on the picket line, in which Capt. Drury, of the 3d Wis- consin Battery (and allow me to say right here that
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a braver man or more genial comrade never pulled a lanyard, ) was wounded, as we all thought mortally, a minie-ball crushing through his right lung. Borne to the rear, he was laid on a cot in a house near the mill and a surgeon summoned. Pending his arrival, the writer sought to impart such consolation as the case seemed to require, and told him, among other things, to keep up his spirits; that a man with his continuous flow of spirits and good health might fight off death by force of will. "Ah, colonel," said he (and as he spoke the red blood welled up from the wound with every breath, ) "I believe-I would-rather- have that-experiment tried-on one of my wife's relations."
From Corinth, Mississippi, the battery proceeded with Gen. Buell's army, in quest of the Confederate army, which had gone east. In a few days the army arrived at Iuka. Miss., and owing to obstructions at the front, were ordered into camp in the outskirts of the town, and the natural curiosity of the boys of the battery, led several of them to take a stroll through town. Among them were several printers, of which the battery was well suppled. While going along the principal street they espied a sign reading "Print- ing Office," and they could not resist the temptation to see what a southern printing office looked like; so. in they went, but found the only occupant of the office was a small boy, commonly called the "devil," of which every well-regulated printing office was sup- posed to contain. In answer to questions he said all the men connected with the office had gone into the Confederate army. He then. probably thinking the
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lower regions was a more desirable place to be in at that time, immediately took his departure also. Left alone in possession of the office, someone of the boys sprung the idea of going to work and getting out a newspaper. The idea struck them all favorably. All the printers of the battery were hastily called together and all were eager for the work. Then a controversy arose about who should be the editor-in-chief, but as Capt. Drury had but a few months before published a lively newspaper in Berlin, Wis., (called the Green Lake County Democrat) he was unanimously chosen as editor-in-chief. He called as his assistants, J. D. Galloway, Dave Hubbard and Ed Case, with Wayne Galloway as the poet. Soon thecompositors were at work, and in a remarkably short time enough was sent up to fill the paper. Then with Esau Beaumont as the chief motive power. the paper was printed, which wascalled the "Badger Bulletin." It was filled with all kinds of interesting matter, except advertise- ments. The scarcity of them was owing to the store- keepers not wishing to patronize that kind of a paper. Then Wayne Galloway was chosen as chief cirenla- tor, who worked so hard he has been unable to do a day's work since. He soon had a corps of newsboys going in every direction, and that evening nearly the whole army was electrified by hearing the cry: "Here's the Badger Bulletin, just printed. All the latest news: only ten cents." The greatest capacity of the motive power was not sufficient to supply the demand, and the treasury of the office carried by the circulator. was supposed to be well filled: but, although some of the boys that did the labor of get-
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ting out the paper were mercenary enough to think they ought to have a share in the proceeds, the treas- urer, thinking the distribution of so much wealth among the boys at once would have a bad effect, con- cluded it was best to carry it himself. But since the war it is currently reported that Wayne Galloway has been traveling all over the country trying to find the boys interested in that paper, in order to distri- bute the funds collected from the sale of the "Badger Bulletin."-E. D. Case.
While the steamboat, J. W. Hindman, was taking on the battery at Louisville, Ky., March S, '62, a spar fell, striking Chauncey R. Stone, and knocking him senseless into the icy and turbid waters of the much swollen Ohio river, where he would have drowned if Maurice Crimmings had not instantly plunged into the river, catching him while sinking and, swimming with him around the bow of the boat, brought him safely to land. Maurice still lives .- Esau Beaumont.
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Our harvest of reminiscences having proved less fruitful than we hoped, you will pardon your secre- tary in presenting some personal recollections. In consequence of the long-time healing of my Chieka- mauga wounds, and the further developing of injuries received at Stone River, I was unable to join my -com- mand until Nov., '64. I left Harvey hospital in charge of a squad ofconvalescents bound for theircommands. It was with difficulty that they were kept within the fold, for like a lot of school boys, frolies they were bound to have, and especially so, when meeting the many recruits our train received at every station.
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where frequently the impromptu war dances proved quite amusing. At Chicago and Indianapolis the recruits still poured in more rapidly, in fact, than when I was sent north. Those for the east received immediate transportation; we for the south or Army of the Cumberland, were delayed as information received showed that Gen. Hood, with a desperate horde of ragged and almost destitute rebels was advancing on Nashville and threatening communica- tions with Chattanooga. After a while we received transportation for Louisville, and when I arrived there every man of our souad had disappeared. On reporting that fact to Gen. Hobson. he did not seem surprised, but said the provost guard would bring them in. If it were streams of soldiers we met at other points, here indeed was the flood, pouring in squads, - detachments and regiments, shouting most jubilantly "We are coming Father Abraham, 300,000 more." A perfect jam was on the trains-passengers and box cars were crammed full, top and inside: 13 trains were in ourstring. In the night freight trains loaded with munitions of war ran out of Lonisville every twenty minutes. We tarried in Nashville but a little while and passed numerous camps of troops guarding the road to our place of destination through a much devasted country. Our train was the last through as Hood's cavalry destroyed part of the track and we . found that wehad just escaped capture by the alert- ness of the train engineer. We will never forget the scenes that we met at our arrival at Chattanooga. The surroundings of the depot were very filthy in comparison with the trim appearance at the northern
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depots. Here we met one of the most motley crowds of all known hues in complexion and of every degree of human classes, specimens of the chivalry, stalwart and impudent and shameless negroes of both sexes, distressingly appearing refugees, and the blue coats in their mighty omnipresence.
By a dint of inquiry I found my command and, what a change from the appearance when last I knew it, in its vigorous virility of stalwart manbood. But one commissioned officer was with the command at Ft. Phelps, viz: Lieut. J. Waite, late Ord. Sergt. This position was now filled by W. H. Williams. This fort was a sort of a great mound thrown up from the plain; clustering around and below were the quarters, cabins of lumber, with fire places. I did not feel sat- isfied at all with the condition of things which to me seemed very woeful. Many strange faces appeared and many of the boys had gone home for good, their term expiring, and many of the unfortunate had passed to their last resting place. The battery never afterwards seemed natural to me and withal I was disgusted with doing garrison duty which however was very essential.
Shortly after arriving here we heard the deep booming to the north of guns; this continued at inter- vals for several days, and after communication was restored we learned of the destruction of Hood's army at Franklin and Nashville, eighty miles distant.
We had no communication here for 30 days with the outer world, and during that time again was experienced a season of lack of food. I paid two dol- lars for four biseuit, very sodden blue affairs; cheese
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was $2 a pound, condensed milk $2 a quart. I paid $1 for a cow's skull, and picked out of the ditch sur- rounding the fort, bacon rinds, that had been thrown there in slops a long time beforeand ate them. Our rations remained extremely scant until the embargo was raised and when our friends at home got things to us we were happy indeed. On occassional visits to the town we found that aside from the usnal busi- ness of camp life that much activity through indus- trial pursuits were progressing. Among them we. visited with interest were the various iron works and boat yards, which activities we learn. are far more widely developed. In closing a point of much interest to me was the National Cemetery where, too, lie our battery's dead of the Chickamauga campaign, whose memories we will ever keep green.
OUR DEAD.
How sleep the brave, who sink to rest. By all their country's wishes blest!
When spring. with dewy fingers cokl.
Returns to deck their hallowed mould.
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Faney's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung; By forms unseen their dirge is sung; There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turi that wraps their clay: And Freedom shall a while repair Todwell. a weeping hermit there!
Soldier rest. thy warfare o'er, Sleep the sheep, that knows no waking, Dream of battlefields no more. Days of toil and nights of waking.
We will state that the morning of Sept. 20th. found
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the battery in position at daylight on an elevation of the Dyer field, spoken of with the "action front," toward a body of timber in the rear of some of our intrenchments, back of the Poe and Brotherton houses; soon after the engagement commenced, we were ordered to advance toward and into this timber which we did, passing over a rail fence. We had not gone but a few rods when we found that farther pro- gress was almost impossible, and while in this fix we received a shower of bullets from an unseen force. We immediately fell back to near our previous position, on what is now known as Battery Hill; and discharging our guns at times from this our last posi- tion, until informed (a mistake) that we were firing on our own men. Regarding this position in which there has seemed to be confusing ideas, we will give it cor- rect from Corp. Ira E. Smith, prefacing it regarding the business of the day before-the 19, viz .; "The 3rd Wis. Battery checked and forced back the whole rebel left at 4 o'clock p. m., by getting an enfilading hre on their line of battle and that when our line was broken, I claim that our battery saved our right wing from being turned at that time. We went into line of bat- tle (last position the 20th ) moving by the left flank by in battery to the right. Our first pieces which I had the honor to command that day, being in the -lead, became the left of the line; the 6th piece became the right of the line by going into action in that manner. The front of a battery while limbered up, is the way the pole points. The front of a battery in action is the way the guns point .- Ira E. Smith.
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