1 

MY  miN  LIFE 

I  now  come  to  the  most  embarrassing,  because  the  most  personal,  part 

of  my  task.  An  account  of  ones  own  life  is,  of  all  others,  the  most 

difficult.  For  while  the  facts  narrated  are  better  knOl'm  to  the  writer 

than  anything  that  can  be  learned  of  another,  still  the  personal  equation 

must  always  be  reckoned  with.  Small  events  may  assume  undue  importance 

to  him,  and  there  is  always  a  strong  temptation  to  place  the  Ego  in 

undue  prominence.  This  tendency  becomes  more  apparent  to  me  as  I  read 

the  National  Tribune  with  letters  printed  therein  from  old  soldiers 

giving  their  e:JQJeriences  in  the  army.  Almost  always  of  great  deeds  done, 

in ",Thich  they were  always  the  chief  actors.  The  reading  of  these  letters 

gives  a  clear  and  somewhat  sad  insight  into  the  weaker  part  of  human 

nature.  So  far  as  possible  I  shall  seek  to  avoid  this.  My  life  upon 

the whole  has  been  so  co®nonplace,  that  there  is  little  room  for  heroics, 

even  were  I  so  inclined.  To  give  a  fairly  clear  view'  of  my  life  I  shall 

have  to  dwell  upon  cO®TIonplace  things. 

My  recollections  of  childhood  are  first  obscure,  like  seeing  through 

a  glass  darkly,  then  emerge  more  and  more  into  clear  sky  as  I  advance 

in years.  One  of  my  first  recollections  is  of  a  school  mistress  loaning 

me  her  penknife  as  a  bribe  to  coax  me  to  school.  To  reach  the  school 

house  we  had  to  cross  Benedicts  Bridr;e  over  the  Tonmvcmda,  and  it appears 

that  I  was  afraid  of  this  trip.  From  this  I  gather  that  I  waS  not  natural(cid:173)

ly courageous.  But  I  could  not  have  been  more  than  three  years  old  at 

this  time.  To  send  a  child  to  school  at  that  age  would  be  considered 

criminal  in  these  later and  I  believe wiser  days.  Another  incident  is 

quite  clear  to  me  about  that  'time.  Father was  going  to  Oregon with  the 

team,  riding  one  and  leading  the  othe,r  by  the  halter. 

I  rode  the  second 

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horse  hanging  on  by  the  mane.  The  horse  I  bestrode  saw  SJme  others  in 

an  adjoining  field,  and  suddenly  backing  up,  drew  the  halter  from  father I s 

hand  and  set  off  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  for  the  other  horses. 

I  can  remember  nothing  of  that  vdld  flight  only,  that  when  father 

came  UP  much  frightened,  I  was  sitting  in  a  little  hollow  and  gravely 

assured  him  that  I  had  ridden  as  far  as  I  wanted  and  got  off. 

From  my  fourth  to  my  eiGhth  year  I  went  to  school  very  regularly. 

I  was  not  a  very  good  boy  or  docile  pupil.  Often  in  mischief  and  engaged 

in many  b03Qsh  scraps. 

I  generally  came  out  ahead  in  these  mimic  battles, 

but  on  one  occassion  got  pretty badly  scratched  up.  By  mother  cried 

over  my  condition,  which was  disreputable  but  not  dangerous. 

I  recall 

that  the  Methodist  minister was  at  our  house  when  I  got  home  from  the 

trouble,  and  he  delivered  a  long  lecture  upon  the  evils  of  fighting  and 

the  end  of  bad  boys.  His  homily was  not  very  effective,  for  I  thought  I 

saw  a  laughing  devil  in his  eye,  and  thought  him  something  of  a  hypocrite. 

-~ie  left  our  little  fann  in  Erie  County,  !\!e'ir  York,  nearly  sixty years 

ago,  and  I  have  never  seen  it  since.. 

Its  image  is  ohotographed  upon 

my  brain with  great  clearness. 

The  thirty acres  consisted  of  the  delta  or  flats  of  Tonawanda  and  lras 

of  surprising  fertility.  These  flats  were  overflowed  every  spring,  and 

renewed  like  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 

Our  buildings  were  a  log  house  and  barn,  rather  primitive  in  ap :Jearance. 

The  buildings  stood  unon  a  knoll.  Across  tho  road  in  front  of  the  house 

was  v.hat  was  called  the  "Cove",  which  resembles  the  bayous  on  Grand  Hiver 

above  Grand  Haven.  A  spring  gushed  out  of  the  bank  of  this  cove  which 

was  our water  supply.  My  parents  first  used  a  fireplace  but  later  procured 

a  huge  Franklin  stove.  Ey  clearest  recollection  of  the  stove  i'laS  from 

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the  following  circumstances. 

I  was  sitting  in  a  high  chair  reading 

Le  Perouse,  a  little  tale  of  adventure.  Mother  "';.ras  baking  potatoes  in 

the  oven,  and  throwing  the  door  open  suddenly  it vrent  against  my  leg. 

The  scar  of  the  burn  is  as  plain  today  as  it was  sixty-two  years  ago. 

It  is  something  of  a  9hysiological  mystery  that  while  the  whole  body 

changes  utterly every  few  years,  that  scars remain  as  distinct  as  ever. 

It I  S  upon  the  same  theory,  I  sU9pose,  that we  are  told  that  any  evil 

thing  done  in  our  lives  leaves  i.ts  marl<:  ana  that  no  years  of  riGht  living 

can  wholly  efface  the  stain. 

Our  New  York  home  vms  humble  and  our  lives  simole  in  the  extreme, 

but  during  the  first  few  years  of  our  life  in Michigan  we  looked  back 

upon  it as  the  very  Eden  of  our  existence.  But  in the  winter  of  1850-51 

we  waited with  joyous  anticipations  our  migration  to  Michigan,  foreseeing 

none  of  its  hardships,  privations  and  disasters. 

My  first  summer  at  Ottawa  Lake  was  not  unpleasant. 

I  was  still con(cid:173)

sidered  too  young  to  work. 

I  attended  school,  though  not  very  regularly. 

There  was  much  new  and  st  range  to  a  young  boy.  The  proximity  of  the 

virgin  forest  held  nmch  of  novelty. 

I  recall  the  plentifulness  of  game. 

A  young  man  came  with  us  from  He'.'{  York  by  the  name  of

')'utherland  as  a 

workhand.  He  brought  a  gun  'with  him.  The  first  evening we  reached  there 

he  stepped  just  across  the  road  and  shot  a  dozen  squ.irrels.  The  second 

evening  he  killed  a  deer  about  t'.ITenty  rods  from  the  house.  Deer,  wild 

turkeys,  ducks  and  all  kinds  of  small  game  were  very  9lentiful.  The 

woods  were  full  of wild  hogs  that  fatted  upon  the  nuts  of  the  oaks  and 

hickories  that  covered  the  land.  One  man  killed  nearly  fifty  of  these 

hogs  one  fall  and  took  the  carcasses  to  Toledo  for  sale.  And  yet,  with 

all  this  abundance  of  game,  at  the  end  of  eight  years,  when  I  finally 

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left  ott  awa  Lake,  there  vms  scarcely  any  game  left. 

The  manner  of  the  inhabitants  of  ottawa  Lake  vmre  so  different  from 

th'lse  of  our  olel  home  that  at  first  I  vras  aopal1ed  at  their  language. 

I  rmember  that  on  the  first  sunnner  of  our  residence  there,  sister  Laura, 

a  young  girl  about  eleven  years  of  age  named  Harriet  }':;urohy  and  myself 

were  crossing  a  field  and  had  occassion  to  climb  a  fence. 

As ldiss  Harriet 

landed,  she  stated with  an  outburst  of  violent  profanity,  that  a  sliver 

from  the  rail  had  scratched  her. 

I  recall  now  the  shudder  that  ran  through 

me  at  such  awful  language.  But,  "Evil  com.munications  corrupt  good  manners. II 

I  soon  learned  to  listen to  profanity without  mental  disturbance.  As 

this  is  sort  of  a  confessional,  I  mic;ht  say  that  that  summer  found  me 

uttering  my  first  oath. 

I  had  been  trying  for  some  days  to  swear,  and 

one  (Jay,  when  out  with  some  boys,  managed  to  rip  out  an  oath. 

I  cannot 

say  that  I  felt  guilty  or  in  the  least  sorry  for  it.  On  the  contrary 

there  was  an  elation  and  a  feeling  of  increased  im90rtance  difficult 

to  describe. 

I  seemed  to  feel  equal  to  my  environment,  and  on  a  par with 

boys  of  my  own  age  in  the  accomplishment  of  profanity.  On  the  way  home 

from  school  that  day,  I  unconsciously  f'ot  off  another  oath.  Sister  Fannie 

was  with  me  and  she  was  horrified  and  threatened  to  tell mother. 

I  begged 

her  not  to  do  so,  and  promised  amendment. 

:3he  agreed  not  to  tell  and 

kept  her  word. 

I  fear  that  mine  Vias  broken. 

The  summer  of  18.51  finished  my  schooling  at  Ottawa  Lake.  Thereafter 

I  was  put  to  work,  first  at  such  tasks  as  were  Dossible  to  one  of my  age 

and  strength,  and  later  the  work  of  a  man.  The  year  following  our  arrival 

in  lllichigan,  one  of  our  horses  died. 

I  did  not  regret  his  demise  as  much 

as  my  f!lther  did,  for  he  was  an  ugly  brute.  Once  1'men  I  went  to  his  feed 

box  to  put  in  some  grain,  he  sei7.ed  me  by  the  chest  with  his  teeth  am 

threw  me  into  the  manger  with  great  violence  from  which  I  escaped  with 

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some  difficulty.  Quite  a  piece  of  flesh  was  torn  from  my  breast,  and  I 

cherished  no  very  deep  regard  for  the  animal.  The  remaining  horse  of 

the  span  we  traded  for  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  vras  elected  to  drive  them. 

I  became  quite  an  expert  as  an  ox  driver,  and  when  twelve  years  of  age 

did  all  of  our  plowing  and  also  some  for  the  neighbors.  For  this  f2ther 

got  ')1. 50  per  acre.  Vie  were  early  risers  at  all  seasons,  especially 

myself. 

In  the  winter  I  'was  routed  out  at  5  o· clock  to  build  fire s  and 

get  the  house  VTann  for  the  rest  of  the  family. 

I  arose  even  earlier 

in the  summer.  One  year  father  rented  twenty  acres  of  land  on  the  bank 

of  ottawa  Lake  to  put  into  wheat,  paying  one  third  of  the  crop  as  rental. 

We  "summerfallovred II  the  land,  that  is  the  land  lay  fallow  that  su,'llJTler, 

no  crop  being  raised  upon  it  and  it was  plowed  three  times  before  sow'ing. 

As  a  consequence  it  took  V!ro  years  to  obtain  one  crop.  Very  little  of 

this  expensive  farming  is  done  nm~,  the  farmer  rather  trusting  to  a  ro(cid:173)

tation  of  crops  and  obtaining  a  crop  every  year. 

I  had  to  plol'T  this  land 

three  times  during  the  season with  our  ox  team.  As  oxen  cannot  work 

very well  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  I  got  up  at  tYro  o· clock  in  the  morning, 

hunted  UD  the  oxen  in  the  de'"  drenched  pa,sture,  drove  them  up  to  the 

Lake  two  miles,  and  started  in  plow'ing  by  daylicht. 

I  would  plow  till 

about  9  o'clock,  turn  the  oxen  out  to  pasture  till 3,  than  plow  till near 

sundown  ano  drive  home.  My  breakfast  and  dinner  consisted  of  a  cold 

lunch  carried with  me,  usually  johnny  cake  and  butter,  and  often  a  cold 

bite  when  I  got  home.  The  above  may  serve  as  a  sample,  :r,Jerhaps  an  extreme 

one,  of  the  toil  of  those  years. 

Still we  did  not  get  on,  but  became  poorer  and  poorer with  each  succeed(cid:173)

ing  year. 

In the  early  part  of  Septem1,er we  usually went  to  the  Prairie 

and  cut  our  hay  for  the  Winter.  Several  days  were  spent  in  cutting, 

curing  and  stacking  this.  Later  the  stacks  were  alvrays  in  danGer  of 

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destruction  from  forest  fires,  and  to  prevent  this  we  used  to  backfire 

for  a  considerable  distance  from  the  st;:l,cks.  The  hay was  commonly  draT:n 

in  the  winter  as  needed.  This  hay was  not  very  nutritious,  and  stock 

fed  upon  it became  thin,  and  we  waited  eagerly  for  the  spring  grass  to 

recruit  their  strength.  Our  recreations  were  infrequent  and  simple. 

Vie  gathered  nuts  in  the  autumn.  Hickory  nuts  were  so  abundant  that  some 

families  gathered  as  many  as  a  hundred  bushels  .mel  sold  them.  Fifty 

cents  a  bushel  was  the  most  that  obtained  for  them  as  I  remember. 

":e 

never  gathered  them  for  sale.  Ginseng  grew  plentifully in  the  woods 

and  we  gathered  it to  chew.  There  appeared  to  be  no  market  for  it. 

Now  the  dried  root  sells  for  from  five  to  seven  dollars  a  pound,  and  it 

would  have  seemed  a  gold  mine  to  have  got  that  for  it then.  The  high 

price  now  is  said  to  be  due  to  the  Chinese  demand  for  it.  ZVidently 

they  had  not  cultivated  a  taste  for  it then. 

Sometimes  I  would  get  a  d;:ly  off  to  go  up  to  Ottawa  Lake  fishing.  The 

only  fish we  caught  Ylere  sunfish  and  rockbass,  and  it was  a  very  uncertain 

sport.  The  most  of  my  spare  time  was  taken  up  with  reading. 

I  had  read 

the  Bible  through  by  the  end  of  my  tenth  year.  Perhaps  some  will  say 

that  this  reading  did  not  bear  nruch  fruit. 

iilhile  I  am  not  a  believer 

in  the  claim  that  the  Bible  is  a  divinely  inspired  book  and  so  different 

from  all  other  books,  I  do  think  that  it  contains  the  finest  English  and 

the  most  beautiful  imaginery  of  all  literature. 

It  has  been  said  that 

I  use  more  scriptural  quotations  in my  arguments  to  a  jury  than  any  other 

attorney  at  our  bar.  There  is  scarcely  a  pha.se  of  human  nature  or  of 

human  affairs  that  cannot  be  aptly  illustrated  by  some  text  in  scripture. 

Hy  early  reading  of  the  Bible  has  repaid  me  an  hundred  fold  for  all  the 

time  spent  upon  it. 

Father  was  for  a  couple  of  years  director  of  our  school  district  and 

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as  such  had  charge  of  the  district  library.  It was  a  goldmine  to  me. 

I  read  and  reread  Franklin 's  Vlorks,  History  of  Greek  Philosophers,  Rollins 

Ancient  History  and  other works.  Our  financial  resources  not  permitting 

lamps  or  many  candles,  I  used  to  gather  large  quantities  of  the  shag  bark 

from  hickory  trees,  burned  them  in  our  open  fireplace,  and  sitting  on 

the  hearth,  read  by  their  light. 

In 1854,  when  the  Republican  party 

was  in  process  of  formation,  and  the  fight  against  slavery  grew  hot, 

one  of  our  neighbors  took  the  New  York  Tribune,  the  acknowledged  cham(cid:173)

pion  of  free  soil. 

I  obtained  the  paper  every week  and  read  its  contents 

with  great  and  increasing  interest.  Perhaps,  thxough  its  influence,  I 

became  a  rampant  republican  at  the  age  of  twelve  Years,  though  father 

still  belonged  to  the  Democratic  party. 

rie  had  no  daily  papers  in those  days.  The  postoff'ice  was  four  miles 

dist<;1.nt,  but  this was  not  very  imoorlant  for we  got  little  mail. 

Suo-h  was  the  course  of  my  somewhat  starved  and  uneventful  life  at 

Ottawa  Lake. 

I  was  always  a  little  hot  tempered,  but  I  think,  not  es(cid:173)

pecially  quarrelsome.  Still difficulties would  occur.  The  Ferris  School 

District  adjoined  us  on  the  east. 

"Roughhouse fl  was  nmch  mala popular 

and  corrnnon  then  that  it  is  today.  Raisings  and  loggingbees  always  ended 

with  some  kind  of  athletic  exhibition,  often  goodnatured,  but  sometimes 

old  grudges  were  worked  off  in  these  exhibitions.  The  Ferris  district 

had  a  boy  champion  by  the  name  of  Fred  Bowers. 

In  the  winter  of  1856-7 

the  Ferris  boys  proposed  to  match  their  champion  agaiY.lst  some  boy  of 

equal  8.ge  from  our  district.  Our  boys  for  some  reason  selected  me  to 

meet  Bowers.  This  ",'fas  wholly without  my  knowledge  or  consent. 

I  had  no 

trouble  with  Bowers  and  wanted  none.  One  night  after  the  meeting,  about 

tY,enty-five  of  the  boys  of  both  districts  started  for  home,  I  being  of 

the  number. 

'jihen we  got  to  the  corner where  I  was  to  turn  off  toward 

home  the  boys  stooped  and  announced  the  fight.  The  challenge  of  the 

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Ferrisites  had  been  accepted  and  I  had  been  selected  to  maintain  the 

honor  of  the  district.  Of  course,  I  am  refining  the  language  somewhat. 

It was  the  first  intimation  that  I  had  of  the  situation,  and  as  the  girl 

said  when  proDosed  to  lilt  is  so  sudden. II 

I  had  serious  objections  to 

the  selection  and  so  stated.  When  Bowers  heard  my  objections,  he  evident(cid:173)

ly  attributed  them  to  the  '.''Trong  source,  for  he  came  up  and  aimed  at  rre  a 

very  vicious  blow.  My  objections  vanished  at  once. 

I  will  not  describe 

what  followed.  Bowers  ",vent  home,  a  sadder  if  not  wiser  boy.  All  this 

was  after  the  manner  of  the  times,  and  I  state  it more  for  the  purpose 

of  illustrating  them,  than  as  noting my  success  in  the  contest.  Poor 

Bowers  went  into  the  anny  and  died  there. 

I  never  had  the  slightest 

feeling  against  him. 

If he  had  succeeded  in  beating  me  it might  have 

been  different. 

ilben  fourteen  years  of  age  I  lost  my  mother.  Bereft  of  her  love  and 

wise  counsel,  I  feel  that  I  lost  something  of  moral  and  spiritual  fiber 

that  never  returned. 

iie  can  only  knoi'[  the  supreme  value  of  a  mother IS 

love  when  we  have  lost  her.  They  are  the  real  saviours  of  society.  By 

love  they  fashion  and  guide  the  world. 

After  father's  blindness,  I  ran  the  farm  till in  the  late  summer  when, 

the  crops  needing  no  further  attention  till harvesting  the  corn  and  po(cid:173)

tatoes,  I  worked  for  a  farmer  for  two  months  at  ten  dollars  a  month. 

I  then  returned  home,  dug  the  potatoes,  husked  and  binned  the  corn  and 

got  up  wood  for  the  winter.  Father  then  sold  the  fann,  rented  a  cauDle 

of  rooms  and  set  up  housekeeping  with  sister  Frances.  There  was  no  fur(cid:173)

ther  use  for  me. 

On  the  26th  day  of  J.Tovember,  1859,  I  went  out  in  the  world  seeking 

work. 

It was  a  dark  and  dismal  afternoon. 

1\:0  one  can  know  just  how  dark 

and  dismal  except  under  like  circumstances. 

I  walked  W0St  through  Cotton-

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wood  Swamp. 

1  had  determined  not  to  stay  around  ottawa  Lake. 

I  passed 

through  Blissfield  about  three  o'clock.  Laura  had  been working  at  David 

Carpenters  in  Blissfield,  and  had  been  there  for  several  years,  and  Vlas 

highly  regarded  by  them. 

I  did  not  call upon  her  but  pushed  right  through. 

I  shall  always  remember  my  bittorness  of  spirit  and  the  vast 

loneliness 

and  melancholy  that  oppressed  me  that  afternoon  like  a  cloud.  Father 

had  offered  me  ten  cents  when  I  went  away,  and  I  had.  thrown  it d01ID  with 

some  scorn.  Frances  said  she  made  a  long  search  for  it  afterwards  but 

could  never  find  it.  She  stood  weeping  at  the  gate  and  watched  me  till 

out  of  sight.  My  clothes  were  not  worth  two  dollars.  They  consisted 

of  the  poor  suit  I  w·ore,  and  a  hickory  shirt  done  up  in  a  cotton  hand(cid:173)

kerchief.  My  finances  consisted  of  t  wo  large  copper  cents. 

I  passed 

through  Blissfiels,  walked  till night,  and  then  stopped  at  a  farmhouse 

and  asked  permission  to  stay  overnight.  This  was  readily granted.  Tramps 

were  practically unkn01vn,  and  I  was  invited  to  take  supper with  the 

family,  which  I  declined,  and  was  given  an  excellent  bed  with  the  hired 

man. 

I  had  no  apDetite  for  supper  and.  could  not  have  S'Nallowed  a  mouth(cid:173)

ful. 

I  left without  breakfast.  This  was  because  of  an  undue  sensitive(cid:173)

ness. 

I  hated  charity.  The  good  people  were  surprised  and  sorry  that 

I  did  not  remain,  as  I  afterwards  learned. 

I  walked  several  miles  into 

the  township  of  Raisin,  Lenawee  County,  asking  for  work  along  the  way 

but  without  success  till  I  reached  the  house  of  one  Place.  When  I  accosted 

h:iJn  upon  the  subject  of work,  he  showed  me  an  old  gun  and  said  that  he 

would  give  it  to  me  for  two  months  work.  The  gun  was  worthless  as  I  knew·. 

But  v[hat  could  I  do? 

I  was  withoug  food  or  a  place  of  shelter.  So  I 

accepted  the  offer,  worked  hard  months  for  the  gun,  traded  it off  for  a 

fiddle  and  sold  the  fiddle  for  $2.~O.  I  still believe  th~t both  the 

gun  and  the  fiddle  were  not  worth  the  money.  Place  was  a  skinflint  of 

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the  pronounced  type,  but  I  worked  for  him  at  small  'wages  till the  fall 

of  1860. 

It  is  a  bitter  experience  to  be  a  waif  and  a  menial. 

I  recall 

one  instance  that  brought  it home  to  me. 

It was  but  one  of  many  of  those 

dark  days  of  poverty.  A man  and  his  son  who  were  driving  a  flock  of  sheep 

through  the  country  stopped  at  Places  for  a  few  days  to  rest  and  pasture 

the  flock.  The  old  man  seemed  to  tp,ke  to  me,  and  we  !Bd  many  conversations 

upon  historical  and  current  topics.  He  thought  that  I  was  a  son  of  the 

house.  He  complimented  Mrs  Place  upon  my  intelligence.  They  had  t'fW 

sons,  but  they were  both  very  dense  and  incapable  of  intelligent  con(cid:173)

versation.  Mrs.  Place,  who  was  an  ignorant  female,  had,  with  a  contemptu(cid:173)

ous  tone  indescribable,  said  that  I  was  no  son  of  theirs,  that  I  was  only 

hired  help. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  drover  paid  me  much  less  attention 

afteI'lvards,  and  though  I  felt  some  contempt  for  him  afterw'a.rds,  it hurt 

just  the  same. 

The  summer  and  fall  of  1860  witnessed  the  campaign  of  Lincoln  and 

Douglas.  The  country was  on  fire.  We 

lmmv  little  of  political  campaigns 

now.  Then  there  was  a  great  question  at  issue  and  crO'trds  gathered  a.t 

mass  meetings  and  listened  to  fren7,ied  orators.  Argument  was  heard  in 

every  house  and  upon  every  street  corner.  Marching  companies  of  'IWide 

A'ivakes"  "mre  formed,  drilled  and  marched  at  political  meetings. 

I  took 

as  active  a  part  in  these  meetings  and  demonstrations  as  my  rather  strenu(cid:173)

ous  labor would  allow. 

It  is  needless  to  say that  I  was  an  enthusiastic 

republican.  My  employer  was  a  democrat  and  I  was  rather  glad  of  it. 

The  life  of  a  farm  hand  today  is  vastly  different  from  that  of  fifty 

years  ago. 

I  got  up  at  daylight  in  summer  and  at  5 0' clock  in  the  winter 

and  s?,,-nt  an  hour  or  two  before  breakfast  doing  chores.  Breakfast  about 

6  o'clock  and  then  to  the  fields.  Vie  had  supper  in the  summer  at  5,  and 

then worked  till  sundown,  and  then  the  team  to  be  cared  for  and  the 

11 

milking  done.  We  would  then  crawl  to  bed  at  9  0  'clock  thoroughly  tired 

out,  to  begin  the  same  treadmill  in  the  morning.  But  I  had  been  used 

to  this  all  my  life  and  looked  upon  it  as  the  natural  order  of  things. 

In  the  fall  of  1860  I  left  Places  and  began  to  work  for  a  man  by  the 

name  of  Colvin,  chopping  wood.  Fifty cents  a  cord  was  the  price  for  cut(cid:173)

ting,  splitting  am  piling,  and  board  was  :i?1.50  per week. 

I  averaged 

about  twelve  cords  a  week  and  made  from  ;~16  to  ~,~18  per  month,  which  was 

by  far  the  best  wages  that  I  had  made  hitherto. 

I  worked  for  Colvin 

all  the  7;i nter  except  about  tyro  "l'leeks  that  I  worked  for  David  Carpenter 

where  Laura 'was  employed.  About  the  middle  of  Harch  1861,  while  at  Col(cid:173)

vins,  I  awoke  in  the  night  and  found  the  bed  afire. 

Jumping  out  the 

whole  interior  of  the  house  was  in  flames.  The  Colvin  family  consisted 

of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colvin,  five  daughters  and  another  hired  man  named  John 

Price.  All  appeared  to  be  asleep  when  I  awoke.  After  arousing  the  family 

we  found  that  the  only  means  of  egress  was  from  the  sitting  room.  The 

door  of  this  was  locked  and  we  could  net  find  the  key.  Breaking  out  a 

window  we  escaped  in  our  night-clothes  and  very  narrowly  at  that.  Three 

young  girls  slept  in  a  small  bedroom  and  had  not  been  aroused.  de  ',"Tent 

to  a  back  window  opening  into  their  room  am  I  jumped  in  and  handed  out 

tYro  "fho  were  laying  nearly  overcome  in  the  bed  and  ':rould  soon  have 

perished.  The  room  V'rl'1s  then  full  of  flame,  and  I  very  severely burned 

my  hands  and  f"tce.  The  youngest  girl,  Annie,  nine  years  old,  was  not 

in  the  bed.  Soon  the  house,  which  -~7as  of  light  and  combustible  material, 

was  a  flaming  mass  and  fell  in. 

.'ie  walked  barefoot  and  naked  as  we  were 

nearly  a  mile  to  a  neighbor I s  and  aroused  them.  The  ground  had  thawed 

during  the  day  an']  fro?:e  at  night,  and  our  progress  was  slow  and  pain(cid:173)

ful,  augmented  by  the  pitiful  grief  of  the  mother  and  family  over  the 

missing  child.  We  found  the  charred  remains  of  her  body  the  next  morning 

12 

near  the  kitchen  door.  She  had  evidently  awakened  before  I  had  and  sought 

to  escape  through  the  kitchen where  the  fire  started,  and  was  unable  to 

open  the  door. 

I  lost  in  the  fire  very  decent  clothes,  a  fine  gun  and  about  $54  in 

money.  After!rards  I  found  a  five  dollar  gold  piece  in  the  ashes,  and 

that  constituted  my  sole  worldly  possessions.  After  partially recovering 

from  m;y  burns,  I  went  to  work  for  a  neighboring  farmer  cutting wood  upon 

the  same  terms  as  when  I  worked  for  Colvin.  My  employer was  a  "Copoerhead" 

of  the  most  pronounced  type.  That  term vras  invented  during  the  war  and 

applied  to  one  OP90sed  to  the  North,  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Union  and 

to  wholly  favor  the  South.  He  took  the  New  York  Day  Book,  as  treasonable 

a  sheet  as  was  ever  printed.  Vre  had  many  warm  argullBnts  over  the  situa(cid:173)

tion.  He  boasted  that  in  the  event  of  war,  he  would  go  so uth  and  enter 

its  army. 

I  promised  to  meet  him  with  a  gun  in  my  hand  on  the  other  side. 

He  remained  safely at  home  and  nursed  his  ill humor. 

Those  were  the  darkest  days  of  our  national  history.  At  the  risk  of 

extending  this  personal  narrative  to  an  extreme  length,  I  must  state 

briefly t  he  situation  at  the  time.  The  great  question  of  human  slavery 

divided  the  Forth  and  South.  At  the  time  of  the  adootion  of  the  Consti(cid:173)

tution,  most  men  both  North  and  South,  were  in  favor  of  the  gradual  ex(cid:173)

tinction  of  slavery.  But  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  had  made  the 

cultivation  of  cotton  profitable,  and  it became  the  great  staole  of  the 

,South. 

It was  their  proud  hoast  from  1850  to  1860  that "Cotton  is  Kingll. 

Slave  labor  seemed  necessary  to  cotton  cultivation,  the  value  of  slaves 

increased,  and  it became  the  great  object  of  the  ,')ollth  to  defend  and 

extend  the  "Peculiar  Institution." 

Lincoln  prophesied  in 1858  that  this  country  could  not  remain  "half 

bond  and  half  free. II  The  South  saw  ultimate  defeat  in  the  increasing 

WARlth  and  pODulation  of  the  North.  For  many  years  orior  to  1860,  southerners 

13 

had  advocated  sesession  from  the  Union. 

In  the  presidential  election 

of  1860,  the  Democratic  Party was  hopelessly  split.  The  southern ,ying 

nominated  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky  as  its  candidate,  the  northern wing 

nominqted  Douglas  of  Illinois;  the  unionists  of  the  South  named  Bell  of 

Tennessee,  and  the  Republicans  nominated  Lincoln  of  Illinois. 

It  is 

said  that  the  Southern  Democracy  nominated  Breckinridge  for  the  purpose 

of  dividing  the  Democratic  Darty  and  breaking  up  the  Union. 

It-was  knoym, 

or  at  least  expected,  that  Lincoln  would  be  elected  from  this  division, 

and  he  was  in  fact  elected  in  November,  1860,  and  while  he  had  far  less 

than  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote  of  the  country,  the  vote  in  the 

Electoral  College was  as  follows:  Lincoln  180;  Breckinridge  72;  Bell 

39;  and  Douglas  12.  Sesession  had  been  threatened  in  case  of  Lincoln 1 s 

election  by  the  South  and  vmen  his  election was  assured,  it  at  once  took 

active  steps  in  that  direction.  The  United  States  then  consi sted  of  38 

states,  of  which  14  were  slaveholding  states.  Of  these,  five  were  known 

as  IIBorder  States, II  viz,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Miss(cid:173)

ouri.  The  population  of  the  country was  in  1860  about  31,000,000,  of 

which  the  slaveholding  states  contained  about  11,000,000,  including  slaves. 

The  doctrine  of  Sesessionwas,  that  any  state  had  an  inherent  right 

at  any  time  when  it  judged  best  to  sever  itself  from  the  Union,  and  free 

itself from  all  obligations  to  the  People  of  the  United  States.  This 

doctrine  contained  within  itself  a  fatal  malady.  There  could  be  no  bind(cid:173)

ing  tie  between  the  states.  The  ''3outh  might  form  a  confederacy  of  its 

ovm,  but  any  of  its  members  could  leave  it at  will.  The  inevitable  result 

of  the  recognition  of  this  principle  would  have  been  thirty-eight  little 

governments  rrithout  unity or  cohesion,  with  separate  Imvs  and  interests, 

and  liable  to  continual  disagreements  and  conflicts.  A  custom  service 

would  have  existed  on  the  borders  of  each  state;  each  would  have  had  its 

14 

little  army,  and  the  sea  coasts  st8te  Us  little  navy,  and  the  United 

States would  have  existed  only  in memory. 

The  North  held  that  the  Union  was  in  its  nature  indestructible;  that 

it was  the  work  of  all  the  people,  and  could  not  be  destroyed  by  a  part; 

that  the  preamble  to  the  Constitution was  the  power  that  formed  it and 

the  reason  for  its  existence. 

rrwe,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in order  to  form  a  more  perfect 

Union;  establish  Justice;  insure  Domestic  Tranquility;  provide  for  the 

Common  Defense;  promote  the  General  iielfare  and  secure  the  Blessings  of 

Liberty  to  Ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  Ordain  and  Establish  this 

Constitution  for  the  United  Sta.tes  of  America. If  The  people  of  the  North 

disavowed  the  right  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  Southern  States, 

but  objected  to  the  extension  of  it into  the  territories.  The  great  ques(cid:173)

tion  then was,  Union  or  Disunion.  The  right  of  any  state  to  break  away 

from  the  general  government  and  deny  its  obligations  as  a  member  of  the 

Union. 

December  20th,  1860,  South  Carolina  passed  the  first  ordinance  by  a 

unanimous  vote,  and  amid  great  enthusiasm.  They  little  reali7.ed  the  dark 

and  bloody  reckoning  that  was  to  come.  The  six  other  Gulf  States  at 

once  followed  the  lead  of  South  Carolina. 

In  February  these  seven  states 

met  at  l,lontgomery,  Alabama,  am  formed  a  new  government  under  the  name  of 

the  rrConfederate  States  oi'  America, II  and  elected  Jefferson  C.  Davis  Presi(cid:173)

dent.  The  forts,  custom  houses,  mints,  navy  yards,  arsenals,  and  public 

buildings  belongins:  to  the  United  States  in these  seven  states were  seized, 

and  the  few  regular  soldiers  were  compelled  to  surrender  except  at  Key 

West,  Fort  Pickens  and  Fort  Sumpter,  and  these  were  closely  besieged  by 

troops  of  the  seceeding  states.  Such  was  the  situation when,  on  March 

4th,  1861,  lincoln was  inaugerated  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  preceeding  winter  had  been  spent  in  vain  efforts  at  compromise  by 

lovers  of  the  Union,  but  the  South  spurned  all  efforts  in  that  direction. 

Lincoln  in his  inaur.;eral  address  still  prayed  for  peace.  He  said,  !live 

are  not  enemies  but  friends.  VIe  must  n')t  be  enemies.  Though  passion 

may  have  strained,  it must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic 

cord  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to 

every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  allover this  broad  land,  will  yet 

svrell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  they  surely will 

be  by  the  better  angels  of  OlIr  nature. II 

Rut  IJincoln' s  apoeal  fell  upon  deaf  ears.  On  April  12th,  1861,  the 

bombardment  of  Fort  Sumoter,  that  had  been  closely  invested  for  some  time, 

b  egan;  and  on  the  Itl-th  it surrendered. 

lITo  one  can  .. fell  describe  the 

fury  and  excitement  of  the  Yforth  1f.~1en  this  news  came.  Parties  were  for(cid:173)

gotten  and  the  whole  country  demanded  the  recovery  of  the  forts  and  pro(cid:173)

perty  of  the  United  States  taken  ?ossession  of  by  the  seceeding  states. 

On  the  15th  day  of  A.pril,  1861,  the  President  issu'3d  a  proclamation 

calling  for  75,000  men  to  be  enlisted  for  three  months  to  supress  the 

Rebellion.  One  regiment  was  assigned  to  Michigan,  and  hearing  that  one 

company  was  in  process  of  formation  at  Adrian,  I  left my  axe  in  the  vrood 

and  walked  to  Adrian,  eight  miles,  and  enlisted  in  the  Hardee  Cadets. 

I  nmv  entered  upon  the  second  phase  of  my  existence,  and  the  old  life 

Vias  cast  aside,  never  to  be  resumed. 

It must  be  delightful  to  look  back 

UDon  a  pleasant  childhood,  and  a  nurtured  and  hap;)y  youth.  Such  a  re(cid:173)

trospection  is  denied  me. 

I  have  few  recollections  of  the  ten  years 

preceeding  1861  not  embittered  by  memories  of  thankless  toil,  abject 

poverty  and  a  soulfelt  want  for  a  better  and  higher  life.  Compared  to 

those  ten  years,  the  four  years  aftert'fards  spent  in  the  army  were  haopy 

indeed. 

An  incident  showing  the  state  of  public  feeling  and  not  altogether 

16 

unpleasing  to  me,  occurred  the  next  day  after  mJT  enlistment.  Hy  former  em(cid:173)

ployer  came  into  the  city with  a  load  of  wood,  and  began  his  abuse  of  everything 

Northern  and  laudation  of  the  South.  A  crowd  got  after  him  with  a  rope  and 

proposed  to  hang  him  to  a  lamp  post.  Only  a  qutck  retreat  through  an  alley 

saved  him.  He  left  his  team  upon  the  street,  went  home  on  foot  and  his  boy 

came  in  the  next  day  and  took  the  team  home. 

:Military  companies  were  being  raised  allover  the  state.  Another  besides 

our  own  'tras  being  recruited  in  Adrian,  and  there  was  a  great  effort  made  by 

each  to  get  into  the  regiment  authorized  to  be  raised.  Preference  vras  given 

to  the  uniformed  companies  then  organized.  Our  company  had  been  organized 

for  some  time  prior  to  1861,  its  ranks  were  filled  up  "rith  recruits  and  it 

was  accepted  as  one  of  the  companies  of  the  regiment. 

April  24th  our  company  left  for  Fort  ,V"ayne  in  Detroit,  where  the  regilnent 

was  to  rendevous.  It was  organized  on  April  29th  and  on  the  1st  day  of  Hay 

,"ras  svvorn  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  We  had  received  our  clothing 

and  full  equipment  of  Springfield  riffles,  and  on  the  13th  day  of  Hay  start-

ed  for  Washington  by  steamer  across  the  lake  to  Cleveland.  The  regiment  was 

798  strong,  of  officers  and  men.  Few  of  the  members  were  over  21  years  of  age, 

most  of  them  between  the  ages  of  18  and  21.  A  finer  set  of  young  men  never 

gathered  under  any  flag.  All VTere  animated  by  an  intense  patriotic  spirit 

and  devotion  to  their  country.  All  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the  preser(cid:173)

vation  of  the  Union,  but  none  saw  before  them  the  terrible  task  of  the  future. 

I  had  read  much  of  wars  and  of  a  soldier~  life,  but  knew  nothing  of  its 

reality. 

Its  sterner  side  was  hidden  from  my  sight. 

Y{e  made  a  fine  anpearance  as  I'm  marched  through  the  streets  of  Cleveland. 

Few  had  seen  a  full  regiment,  armed  and  equipped  as  we  were.  The  Cleveland 

Plaindealer  of  that  date  said: 

"A  great  many  of  our  citizens  visited  them, 

and  expressed  admiration  of  the  men  and  the  very  admirable  manner  in which 

17 

they  had  been  armed  and  equipped  for  service  by  their  state.  The  comparison 

betvreen  the  action  of  Michigan  and  that  of  Ohio  was  not  at  all  flattering. t1 

-\'[e  left  Cleveland  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Ihth  of  ~'lay  and  arrived  in 

Pittsburgh  about  midnight.  Large  crowds  had  welcomed  us  at  every  station, 

and  at  Pittsb  urgh  an  enormous  mass  of  people  filled  the  streets.  A bounti(cid:173)

ful  supper  had  been  ~rovided for  us  at  the  de;Jot,  and  while  we  sat  at  the 

tables,  parties  took  our  canteens  and  filled  them with  any  kind  of  liquor 

that  was  wanted. 

I  had  mine  filled with "line,  and  hanging  the  canteen  on 

the  side  of  the  car,  its  motion  opened  a  seam  in  the  canteen,  and  the  wine 

was  lost,  which  was  just  as  1'lell.  We  had  a  fine  breakfast  at  Altoona,  and 

reached  Harrisb  urg,  the  Capitol  of  Pennsylvania,  before  sundown.  Here 

vre  disembarked,  marched  into  a  camp  with  ,standing  tents  filled  with  clean 

straw,  given  a  supper  of  hard  bread  and  smoked  meat  and  remained  till  the 

next  morning.  We  thought  that  these  quarters  and  fare  after  our  sumptous 

dining  up  to  that  time,  rather meager,  but  it would  have  seemed  palatial 

in  later years.  The  Bucktails,  or  Kane  Rifles, II  were  being  organized  at  the 

same  c amp,  and  were  a  lot  of  magnificent  specimens  of  the  Pennsylvania 

mountaineer.  They  wore  bucktails  in  their  hats,  hence  the  name. 

'.-ie  left 

Harrisb  urg  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  in  flatcars.  We  had  up  to  that 

time  been  carried  in  passenger  coaches,  but  all  such  luxery  ended  for  the 

next  four  years. 

'ife  reached  Baltimore  in  the  early  afternoon.  Guards  vrere 

stationed  at  all  the  bridges  along  the  route. 

Innnediately  after  the  surren(cid:173)

der  of  Fort  Sumpter,  all  the  bridges  on  the  railroad  had  been  burned  by 

Baltimore  Secessionists  for  fifty miles.  TI1ese  had  been  hastily  rebuilt 

and ,',rere  now  guarded  by  Pennsylvania  tro09s.  Baltimore  vras  a  hot  bed  of 

secession,  and  the  secessionists  had  determined  to  carry Ii.'Iaryland  out  of 

the  Union.  On  April  19th  the  6th  l.Iassachusetts  Regiment  passing  through 

Baltimore  on  its  way  to!iashington,  ·was  fiercely  assailed  in  the  streets 

of  Balt:iJnore  by  a  raging  mob.  Frnm  t he  side'.'nll-s  and  ',rindm"rs  along  the 

18 

stre8ts  a.  hot  fire  had  been  -floured  UTYln  the  l'.~ assachusetts troops,  and  a 

number  '[vere  killed  and  vronnded.  Thereafter,  regiments  hurrying  to  ",~rashing­

ton,  had  been  t~ken around  Baltimore.  After  leaving  Harrisburg,  ten  rounds 

of  amnnmition  had  been  issued  to  us  and  our  guns  loaded. 

So  we  disembClrked 

from  the  cars  at  Baltimore.  We  marched  tlirough  the  main  streets  of  the 

city to  the  Washington  depot  upon  the  other  side.  There  were  many  hisses 

but  no  further  hostile  demonstration.  Only  two  of  the  Massachusetts  com(cid:173)

panies  were  t)rovided  with  muskets,  and  they  had  little  ammunition. 

lie  were 

mar,nificent1y  armed,  and  had  we  been  attacked,  there  would  have  been  mourn(cid:173)

ing  in  Baltimore.  The  Baltimore  American  the  next  morning  said  of  us: 

"The  Iiichigan  Regiment  attracted  e;eneral  attention  and  commendation  yester(cid:173)

day  by  their  solid  appearance  anel.  .'mll  disciplined  movements. 

It 1'raS  com(cid:173)

posed  almost  entirely  of  young,  steady  and  intelligent  looking men,  and 

appeared  capitally  officered.  They  were  especially well  equipped,  thanks 

to  the  liberality of  the  State  of  Michigan,  which  had  furnished  them  with 

an  entire  outfit,  and  were  armed  with  new  Minie  guns. II 

"ile  reached  VJashington  in  the  evening  of  l1ay  16th.  Again  a110'lf  me  to 

quote  from  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  New  York  1-'ost. 

"The  lIiichigan  Rifle  Regiment  C21Jle  into  tmm  about  ten  0  'clock  last  night, 

marching  from  the  depot  up  the  Avenue  to  Eleventh  Street.  They were  preceded 

by  a  splendid  b2_nel.  of  music  which  soon  aroused  our  citizens,  and  long  before 

they  reached  the  quarters  assigned  them,  hundreds  of  people  were  out  to 

give  them  welcome.  The  enthusiasm 7ras  irrepressible,  for  this  was  the 

first  western  regiment  which  arrived  at  the  Capitol." 

Washington  was  then  in  a  state  of  strange  unrest  and  fear.  The  flag 

of  the  Southern  Confederacy was  floating  at  Arlington  Heights,  just  across 

the  river.  The  Departments  were  filled with  Secessionists,  and  men  after(cid:173)

wards  prominent  in  the  Confederate  Army  were  still  in  'iiashington,  and  osten-

19 

sibly  in  our  service.  Soon  after  the  call  for  troops  and  the  as sembling 

of  the  regiments  at  ~dashington,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and 

Arkansas  seceded  and  joined  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

strenuous  efforts 

were  rna,de  to  take  Missouri  and  Kentucky  out  of  the  Union,  but  vrithout  suc-

cess.  Maryland  and  Delaware  became  more  strongly  Union  in  sentiment  as 

time  passAd,  and  the  Confederacy was  limited  to"eleven  states  named. 

the 

~1e 

remained  in ','iashington  drilling  till the  evening  of  the  23rd  of  May.  During 

those  seven  days  I  wandered  at will  through  the  Capitol  and  public  build-

ings. 

It  was  a  great  sight  and  an  educating  force  to  a  boy  who  had  lived 

my  narrow  and  confined  life. 

The  seats  in  the  Senate  Chamber  were  all  marked  with  the  names  of  the 

Senators  who  had  occupied  them. 

I  sat  in  the  seat  of  Jefferson  Davis,  who 

had  resigned  from  the  Senate  the  previous  January. 

Washington  was  then  very  different  from  its  condition  today.  The  present 

proud  Dome  of  the  Capitol  was  then  only  a  guant  framework  of  timbers;  the 

Washinp'ton  Mormment  was  then  only 100  feet  in  height,  and  the  stones  present-

ed  by  the  various  states,  domestic  and  foriegn  and  many  civic  societies 

were  piled  under  a  shed.  These  were  variously  inscribed,  and  were  put 

later  in the  interior  of  the  shaft.  The  inscription  upon  the  stone  presented 

by  the  State  of  Louisiana  caused  sane  comment. 

It was,  "Louisiana,  ever 

faithful  to  the  Constit  ution  and  the  Union."  As  Louisiana  had  seceded 

the  previous  "winter,  the  good  faith  of  its  inscription might  well  be  doubted. 

Pennsylvania  Averme  was  then unpaved,  and  in wet  times  was  a  sea  of  1IDld. 

Virginia  had  seceded  and  it was  determined  to  invade  her  11;3acred  Soil." 

Alexandria,  some  eight  miles  from  Washington,  was  the  first  point  aimed  at. 

The  Fire  Zouaves,  commanded  by  Colonel  Ellsworth were  sent  doym  the  Pot  omac, 

by  steamer,  convoyed  by  the  gunboat  Pawnee.  The  First  Michigan  Regiment 

crossed  the  Long  B  ridge  into  Virginia  at  midnight  of  ]Vlay  23rd  and  reached 

Alexandria  at  sunrise,  and  at  about  tl18  same  time  as  ii;llsworth I s  men. 

20 

Our  march  was  unopposed,  but  in  Alexandria  we  surprised  am  captured  about 

thirty-five  cavalry.  The  Mansion  House  was  then  the  principal  hotel  of  the 

city,  and  from  it  floated  a  flag.  The  ow·ner  of  the  house  had  declared  that 

he  would  shoot  any  man  attempting  to  t8.ke  it down. 

Colonel  ~llsworth ordered  a  comoral  to  take  a  file  of  men  ani  take  down 

the  flag,  but  as  the  corporal  hesitated,  he  declared  that  he  T.'ould  not  send 

a  man  where  he  would  not  go  himself,  and  with  a  corDoral  and  two  men  ascended 

the  roof  and  took  down  the  flag.  As  he  was  descending  the  stairs,  Jackson, 

the  proprietor  of  the  hotel,  sprang  from  a  room  with  a  double  barreled  shot 

gun,  and  shot  Colonel  fnlsv'lorth  through  the  heart.  The  corporal  then  shot 

Jackson  dead  and  as  he  '.'Tas  falling  plunged  his  bayonet  through  the  body. 

The  Colonel  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to  fall  in  defense  of  the  Union. 

• 

·'ife 

remained  a  few  da:ls  in  Alexandria  and  were  quartered  in  the  "Slave  Pen" 

of  Birch  and  Price,  as  advertised  upon  its  front. 

It  was  a  commodious 

building,  and  contained  one  slave  "''Then  we  entered  it.  We  liberated  him, 

and  a  more  joyful  creature  I  never  saw.  His  name  was  George  ~'iashington, 

and  he  followed  the  regiment  afteI'l'fards.  The  day 7Ie  entered  Alexandria 

word  came  that  there  were  some  hundreds  of  barrels  of  flour  at  Clouds  Eill, 

th2.t  the  enemy  was  removing.  This  mill vms  situated  about  five  miles  from 

the  city. 

It was  a  brick mill  situated  upon  a  small  stream,  and  was  run 

by  the  water  passing  through  a  wooden  flume,  and  falling  through  a  square 

hole  upon  an  overshot  wheel.  One  hundred  men  of  our  regiment  and  an  equal 

number  of  the  Zouaves  were  sent  out  to  capture  it. 

I  was  one  of  our  number. 

Vie  captured  the  mill  vrithout  trouble,  and  took  possession  of  the  flour. 

That  night  pickets  were  set  on  the  paths  cll1r1  roads  leadinr,  from  the  mill, 

the  !l\8n  of  OUT  regi.ment  taking  the  first  relief. 

I  was  posted  in  a  patch 

of ·woods  snme  half  a  mile  from  the  mill,  and  here  J  remained  :'rom  noon 

till midnight. 

.it  was  my  first  picket  and  2.  very  lonely  vigil. 

;~very 

rustling wine!  s8~med the  approach  of.'  a  foe,  and  more  than  once  I  aimed  my 

21 

gun  at  a  bunch  of  swaying  gr~ss or  bushes,  thinking  it  an  enemy.  This  may 

seem  like  cowardice. 

It was  the  natural  timidity  of  ignorance.  Take  a 

boy  of  eighteen  years  of  age  from  a  farm.  Set  him  out  in  a  Virginia wood 

without  experience  in war,  with  tales  of  guerilla warfare  ringing  in  his 

ears,  and  most  boys  would  feel  an  anxiety  over  the  situation. 

I  confess 

that  I  did. 

He  were  relieved  at  midnight,  and  the  Fire  Zouaves  went  on  picket. 

lie 

went  into  the  mill  to  sleep.  There  were  about  twenty  of  the  L.ouaves  in  the 

road  in  front  of  the  mill. 

iie  had  not  got  to  sleep when  a  volley  rang  out. 

The  guard  in  front  of  the  mill  had  been  fired  upon. 

\Te  all  streamed  out, at 

once,  but  no  enemy  could  be  seen.  They  had,  evidently,  crept  up,  fired 

and  then  decamped. 

'f1:ro  of  the  Zuoaves  had  been  wounded,  one  mortally. 

The  last was  the  first  man  I  Sa,,,,  killed  in  the  army.  He  was  shot  just  above 

the  hips  and  lived  for  a  couple  of  hours.  He  suffered  greatly  a.11.d  frequent-

ly  said,  "Oh  w-ho  wouldn I t  be  a  soldier."  We  were  not  further  disturbed 

by  the  enemy. 

ire  remained  in  Clouds  ~Sill for  a  couple  of  days,  and  the  flour  having 

been  all  removed,  'lve  returned  to  Alexandria. 

'ife  soon  after  encamped  on 

:3huters  Hill,  and  assisted  somewhat  in  building  a  fort  on  the  hill  named 

tlFort  1!:llsworth." 

lYe  were,  however,  not  industrious  shovel  men,  and  the 

was 

worki\completed  by  gangs  of  laborers.  Our  time  till  about  July  10th  was 

occupied  in drillini",  of  yrhich  ':fe  vrere  much  in  need,  and  in  camp  and  picket 

duty.  Our  orders  'were  to  shoot  if  anything  dangerous  appeared,  and  a  good 

many  cows,  horses  and  nmles  fell  from  the  fire  of  the  pickets  at  nie;ht. 

Often  firing  at  niGht  UDon  these  unconscious  enemies  wouln  cause  the  long 

roll  to  beat  in  camp,  and  we  would  turn  out  in  line  to  repel  the  anticipated 

foe. 

It was  all  ver-J  ludicrous,  as  I  looked  b8ck  u:Jon  it  afte!,\lrards,  when 

soldering  had  become  a  business  with  me, 

In  the  summer  of  1861  we  were  very 

22 

green  and  untried  soldiers,  indeed. 

About  July  lOth we  moved  from  .Shuters  «')hooters~)  Hill  to  Clouds  Mill 

and  from  there  advanced  to  Fairfax  Station.  A  brigade  of  the  enemy  held 

Fairfax  ,station,  but  was  easily driven  away,  we  capturing  some  members  of 

an  Alabama  regiment.  They  had  just  been  preparing  dinner  in  their  c~~p, 

and  we  p;ot  some  nice  hot  boiled  ham  that  vras  not  prepared  for  us.  Here  we 

remained  for  some  two  or  three  days.  The  road  for  some  moUes  before  reach-

ing  the  station  had  been  full  of  trees  felled  by  the  Confederates  to  retard 

our  advance.  Ninety  men  from  our  regiment  had  been  det2iled with  axes  to 

remove  these  trees,  ani  I  was  one  of  the  ninety  as  accustomed  to  use  the 

ax. 

-:ie  were  in  advance  and  had  plenty of vrork  to  do  under  the  hot  July 

sun. 

~'ibile  at  Fairfax  .'3tation  my  curiosity led  IJB  into  a  very  foolish  act, 

which,  I  think,  a11110st  cost  me  my  life.  There  was  a  small  Catholic  Church 

in  the  vicinity  that  had  been  used  for  a  hospital  by  the  enemy. 

It was 

locked  with  shutters  on  the  windows. 

It was  only  a  one  story building,  so 

I  climbed  upon  the  roof  and  dropped  through  the  belfry  to  the  floor.  There 

was  onedead  soldier within  and  the  ordinary  paraphenalia  of  a  hospital. 

I  did  not  remain  long  but  undoubtedly  contracted  the  measles,  of which 

more  later. 

On  Thursday,  the  17th  of  July,  we  marched  to  Centerville, 

',{e  ','Tere  bri-

gaded  with  the  Fire  Zouaves  and  the  33rd  New  York,  the  brigade  commanded 

by  Col.  ~nlcox of  our  regiment.  The  division ow-as  cOIn.'Uanded  by  Heintzelman, 

and  the  army  vras  under  the  command  of  General  1:icDo\7ell. 

-\'ihile  on  the  march 

to  Centerville  we  heard  guns  at  Blackburns  Foro,  vThere  a  lively  skirmish 

was  in  progress  betw'een  some  of  our  troops  and  the  enemy  under  Beuregard. 

There  ',-rere  quite  a  number  killed  and  vrounded,  though  the  fight  "ras  not  of 
large  proportions.  Ne  had  nothing  to  eat  on  the  evening  of  the  17th,  and 

some  ver';/  tough  oxen  were  found  and  driven  into  camp.  These  were  killed, 

it 

and.  y,hoever  wanted  a  piece  cut  it  off  and  broiled,\on  his  steel  ranrod. 

It 

22 

green  and  untried  soldiers,  indeed. 

About  July  lOth we  moved  from  .Shuters  (Shooters~)  Hill  to  Clouds  Mill 

and  from  there  advanced  to  Fairfax  Station.  A  brigade  of  the  enemy  held 

Fairfax  Station,  but  was  easily driven  away,  we  capturing  some  members  of 

an  Alabama  regiment.  They  had  just  been  preparing  dinner  in  their  camp, 

and  we  p;ot  some  nice  hot  boiled  ham  that ,'Tas  not  -prepared  for  us.  Here  we 

remained  for  some  two  or  three  days.  The  road  for  some  m~_les  before  reach-

ing  the  station  had  been  full  of  trees  felled  by  the  Confederates  to  retard 

our  advance.  Ninety  men  from  our  regiment  had  been  detc:>iled  with  axes  to 

remove  these  trees,  am  I  was  one  of  the  ninety  as  accustomed  to  use  the 

ax. 

-i'ie  were  in  advance  and  bad  plenty of 'work  to  do  under  the  hot  July 

sun. 

if/bile  at  Fairfax  .Station  my  curiosity led  IJB  into  a  very  foolish  act, 

which,  I  think,  al'!Tlost  cost  me  my  life.  There  was  a  small  Catholic  Church 

in  the  vicinity  that  had  been  used  for  a  hospital  by  the  enemy. 

It was 

locked  with  shutters  on  the  'windows. 

It was  only  a  one  story building,  so 

I  climbed  upon  the  roof  and  dropped  through  the  belfry  to  the  floor.  There 

was  onedead  soldier within  and  the  ordinary  paraphenalia  of  a  hospital. 

I  did  not  remain  long  but  undoubtedly  contracted  the  measles,  of  which 

more  later. 

On  Thursday,  the  17th  of  July,  we  marched  to  Centerville,  We  were  bri-

gaded  with  the  Fire  Zouaves  and  the  33rd  l!evv  York,  the  brigade  commanded 

by  Col.  ~-[ilcox  of  our  regiment.  The  division yras  commanded  by  Heintzelman, 

and  the  army  Y;'as  under  the  command  of  General  1.,icDo'ITell. 

'l;ihile  on  the  march 

to  Centerville  we  heard  guns  at  Blackburns  Ford,  y,here  a  lively  skirmish 

was  in  progress  between  some  of  our  troops  and  the  enemy  under  Beuregard. 

There  ',-rere  quite  a  number  killed  and  '\'TOunded,  though  the  fight  was  not  of 

large  proportions.ive  had  nothing  to  eat  on  the  evening  of  the  17th,  and 

some  ver:l  tough  oxen  YTere  found  and  driven  into  camp.  These  were  killed, 

it 

and  whoever  wanted  a  piece  cut  it  off  and  broiled,\ on  his  steel  ranrod. 

It 

23 

was  so  very  tough  that  my  teeth were  sore  for  days  afterwards  trying  to 

masticate  it.  We  lay  at  Centerville  till  Sunday  the  21st  inst. 

~,ihile  there 

a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  ' . .,,-hose  time  had  expired,  marched  back  to  Viashington 

amid  the  jeers  of  the  other  troops,  for  it  seemed  a  shame  to  tum  back when 

the  enemy  was  before  us.  We  lay within  a  short  distance  of  the  enemy.  His 

riFht  was  at  or  near  Blackburns  Ford,  and  his  left  stretched  away  to  the 

south  beyond  the  Stone  Bridge  over  Bull  Run,  a  small  river  that  has  beeome 

historic,  but  was  a  mere  rivilet  in  itself. 

'ire  were  draym  out  in  the  road 

at  2  a I clock  Sunday  morning  and  lay  till  six  a I clock.  It was  determined 

to  turn  the  riFht  of  the  enemies  lines,  and  ~'Thile  his  left  and  center were 

attacked  in  some  force,  we  Here  to  make  a  detour  of  some  nine  miles  by  the 

Sudley  Springs  road  and  turn  his  right.  The  troops  that  preceded  us  had 

attacked  the  enemy  on  the  right  and  virtually  surprised  him.  They  had 

been  driven  back  nearly  a  mile  to  an  eminence  upon  which  stood  the  Henry 

House.  Here  they  rallied,  and  .stonewall  Jackson with  his  brigade  and  others 

came  to  their  relief.  As  we  reached  the  crossing  of  the  little  stream  the 

battle  was  in  full  view.  Over  near  the  Eenry  House  long  lines  of  Confed(cid:173)

erates  could  be  seen  on  the  double  quick,  and  the  air WaS  full  of  bursting 

shells. 

The  Fire  Zouaves  had  gone  in  ahead  of  us.  Soon  we  were  ordered  to  advance, 

cmd  we  cross8d  Bull  %n,  threw  off  our  knapsacks  at  a  little  brick  church 

and  advanced  double.  Sometime  before  leaving  camp  at  Cloud  Springs  I  had 

engaged  in  a  friendly wrestle  'with  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Parker,  and 

had  struck  my  knee  on  a  ten  pin  and  wounded  it  quite  badly.  For  that  reason 

the  Captain wcmted  to  leave  TIe  in  cp..mp  when  the  advance  was  made,  but  I 

would  not  consent  to  it.  The  road  over  which  we  were  advancing was  very 

rocky  and  flinty,  and  I  carried  an  ax  in  my  belt  used  in  clearing  the  road. 

As  we  started  on  the  double  quick  the  ax  helve  caught  between  my  legs  and 

threw  me  violently upon  my  knees,  and  so  lacerated  my  sore  lmee  that  my 

shoe  was  instantly  filled  vritll  blood.  Lieutenant  House  took  my  [';un  and 

told  me  to  fallout  and  lie  dovm  by  the  side  of  the  road.  This  I  would 

not  do  but  continued  the  double,  catching  my  gun  from  him. 

I  "\"las  bound  to 

see  and  participate  in  a  battle.  My  curiosity was  never  so  acute  afterwards. 

~[e  soon  passed  Griffins  Battery w'hich  'flas  firing  U00n  the  enemy,  crossed 

an  00en  field  under  fire  of  the  enerr·YI s  artillery.  Here  I  hAard  for  the 

first  time  the  hOl'rl  and  whistle  of  a  shell.  There  is  little music  in  it. 

']ne  shot  knocked  down  our  colors  and  two  of  the  color  bearers. 

i/e  soon 

reached  a  ravine  up  which  1m  -aent.  This  ravine  wa,':;  9arallel ",-ith  the  con(cid:173)

federate  line  and  some  twenty  or  thirty  rods  distant. 

'3mall  pines  fringed 

t:he  sides  of  the  ravine,  and  a  cloud  of  hullets  like  hissing  serpants  were 

1?assing  over  our  heads,  casting  dmm  leaves,  twigs  and  branchEs  of  these 

pines. 

SOOE  1re  were  ordered  in  line  of  battle  to  go  up  the  banks  towards 

the  enemy.  At  the  top  the  full  scene  burst  upon  us.  The  Fire  Zouaves  had 

been  on  the  field,  and  run  in wild  confusion. 

In  every  hollow  or  depression 

a  little  squad  of  them  gathered  for  shelter.  A  feTT  of  the  bravest  fell  in 

vrith  us.  As  we  reached  the  top  of  the  ravine,  a  man  named  FoyfJ.er,  a  l:fethod(cid:173)

ist  minister who  stood  next  to  me,  fell  shot  through  the  heart. 

I  think 

that  he  was  the  first  man  to  fall  of  our  regimfmt.  He  died  instantly with 

a  smile  upon  his  lips.  Between  us  and  the  enemy  ran  a  worm  fence.  Ricketts 

Battery  had  been  advanced  to  the  plateau  upon  which  we  stood,  its  horses 

had  been  killed,  and  its  men  killed,  wouh l.ed  or  driven  cti'\"ay.  The  enemy 

','fere  among  its  f21.111S. 

1;7e  advanced  to  the  fence,  gave  them  a  volley  and  then 

charged.  The  confederates  fell  back  before  us  and  we  captured  the  battery. 

The  balance  of  the  day  seems  like  a  dream.  The  day VTas  intensely hot. 

~je 

fought  and  suffered  and  many  died  on  that  baking  plateau.  At  one  time  a 

Maine  re[~iment  fired  into  us  by mistake. 

',7e  saw  Johnstons  fresh  troops  come 

in  on  our  rir:;ht  and  somehow  our  men  melted  mvay. 

I  never  could  tell  just  how. 

1,'[e  found  ourselves  drifting back  across  thl')  field  over  which  we  had 

advAnced  in  the  fore  noon.  The  li.nes  had  given way  and  all ',7as  confusion. 

This  was  about  four  0' clock  in  the  afternoon.  We  ha.d  been  fighting  for 

five  hours  in  a  broiling  sun  and  without  water.  There  was  no  order  or  sem(cid:173)

blance  of  discipline  in  our  retreat.  An  unaccountable  and  needless  panic 

had  seized  the  entire  army.i'Ve  surged  across  Bull  B.un  where  we  had  crossed 

with  such  proud  anticipations  in  the  forenoon,  and  continued  the  retreat 

al'lng  the  Sudley  Springs  "Road  toward  Centerville.  Such  a  panic  woulc1  have 

been  impossible  a  few  months  later. 

If driven  back  the  men  -,muld  soon  have 

rallied  in  line,  and  if  a  retreat  had  been  necessary,  it would  have  been 

made  in  order  and  under  the  command  of  its  officers.  There  vms  no  order 

or  command. 

'~:Te  streamed  back  tovrards  Centerville  like  a  flock  of  sheep. 

There  'Nas  no  pursuit.  The  enemy  seemed  as  astonished  as  vre  were,  and  per(cid:173)

haps  thour,ht  we  were  trying  to  flaJlk  them. 

lWery  soldier who  was  at  Bull 

rmn  blushes  for  that  day.  And  Jret  the  men  who  fought  and  ran  that  day  3tood 

like  heroes  upon  many  a  stricken  field  aftenrards.  An  account  of  the  first 

battle  of  Bull  Run,  published  in  the  i,jational  Tribune  lately,  stated  that 

the  dead  of  the  First  l!Tichigan  Infantry were  nearer  the  enemy's  lines  than 

thos e  of  any  other  re giment.  But  we  ran  quite  as  well  as  "I're  fought  when 

the  rout  commenced. 

The  road  from  the  battlefield  to  Centerfield  was  strewn  with  the  debris 

of  retreat:  artillery,  muskets,  "ragons  and  cast  off  impedimenta  of  all 

kinds. 

I  sa,\1  a  niece  of  artillery by  reckless  driving  caught  by  the  hub 

against  a  small  tree,  and  its  frenzied  drivers,  instead  of  backj_ng  U9  a  foot 

or  two  and  freeing  it,  unhitched  their  horses  and  continued  their  flight, 

leaving  the  r-:un  to  the  enemy. 

.some  byo  miles  from  Centerville  the  road 

crossed  Cub  %n  over  a  stone  brid ~e.  The  enemy  had  got  a.  gun  or  t ':iO  to 

bear  upon  this  bridge  from  the  ri €; ht  of  t heir  line. 

l1ere  nas  confusion 

inf~_nite!  ":h8n  I  reached  the  bridge,  there  ':rere  many  pieces  of  artillery} 

26 

wagons  and  vehicles  of  all  kinds  blocking  road  and  bridge,  and  all  abandoned. 

I  crossed  the  creek  by wading. 

One  division  under  General  riciles  had  been  left  at  Centerville  and  vras 

not  engaged  in  the  hattIe. 

It was  in  line  in  front  o:f  :;enterville  as  we 

passed  throngh.  Miles,  however,  was  drunk,  and  it  is  said,  rode  up  and  dov.m 

the  lines  of  his  division vdth  a  woman's  headgear  on.  This  drunken  disgrace 

was  killed  in  September,  1862,  at  Harpers  Ferry,  after  he  had  surrendered 

toStonevrall  Jackson. 

There  had  been  some  idea  of  making  a  stand  at  Centerville,  but  in  view 

of  the  utter demoralization  of  the  army,  it was  abandoned,  aI1d  the  retreat 

continued  to  "!:{ashington.  Miles'  army  had  no  more  order  than  a  flock  of 

sheep,  not  a  regiment  or  company  being  under  the  command  of  its  officers. 

Our  Colonel,dilcox,  was  wounded  and  a  prisoner.  The  Captain  of  our  company, 

Graves,  was  also  WOD  nded,  and  the  loss  of  officers  served  to  make  confusion 

worse  confounded. 

It was  simply,  "The  devil  take  the  hindmost. II 

I  have  vrritten  of  this  day  vdth  pain  and  mournful  memory.  The  21st  day 

of  July  is  a  black  day  in  our  calender.  Russell  of  the  London  Times  wrote 

to  his  paper  that  the  Yankees  were  nothing  but  a  pack  of  cowards.  He  was 

after-(Tards  proved  a  liar,  but  it was,  indeed,  a  disgraceful  day. 

.some  have 

since  said  that  our  defeat  was  a  "blessing  in  disguise,"  that  it  nerved  the 

North  to  greater  effort,  and  lulled  the  South  to  a  fa.lse  security;  that 

had  we  Yfan  the  battle,  the  result would  have  been  a  com1)romise  vrith  slavery 

retained,  and  the  conflict  postponed  for  a  generation  and  left  for  O1.lr  child(cid:173)

ren  to  settle. 

I  do  nat  believe  tnis.  The  c;nflict  between  the  ~' orth and  the  South 

was  one  of  Constitutional  differences,  aggravated  and  precipitated  by  the 

question  of  hum2.n  slavery,  but  it vvas  one  that  had  to  be  fought  out  to  the 

death. 

It '{ras  a  question  of  Union  or  Disunion;  and  the  South  had  stripped 

27 

early  for  the  contest.  The  South  would  be  satisfied  only with  Disunion; 

the  North  "'Tould  accept  nothing  but  a  Union  of  the  .states,  and  the  conflict 

was  inevitable  and  without  compromise. 

I  reached  the  south  end  of  Long  Bridge  about  ten  0  I clock. 

)\10  one  had 

been  allowed  to  cross  the  bridge  into  the  city,  and  thousands  of  dispirited 

men  were  gathered  at  the  south  end. 

I  can  at  this  distance  recall  with 

rmich  vividness  my  deadly,  hopeless  weariness  at  the  end  of  this  retreat. 

'ife  had  scarcely  slept  3unday  night,  and  were  in  line  at  2  0  I clock  in  the 

morning. 

:-ie  had  not  then  learned  the  necessity  of  keeping  a  full  haversack 

and  canteen.  So  almost  vrithout  food  or water,  I  had  marched  nine  miles, 

engaged  in  a  battle  of  hours  duration;  from  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till 

10  0  I clock  }.~onday forenoon  had  been  on  the  retreat,  not  bouyed  U~J  by  victory 

but  deDressed  and  saddened  by  defeat. 

I  fell  upon  the  ground  and  went  to 

sleep. 

In  about  two  hours  I  was  a'wakened  by  the  rain. 

I  reached  my  feet 

'with  difficulty  and  then  found  that  it was  impossible  to  take  a  step  of 

more  than  two  inches. 

I  was  absolutely  stiffened.  By  continued  effort 

I  was  enabled  to  step  off  better  and  better,  till  after  SOm3  time  the  stiff(cid:173)

ness  was  overcome. 

In  the  afternoon  we  were  allowed  to  cross  into  VJashing(cid:173)

ton  and  the  Bull  Run  campaign  -,ras  over. 

Our  period  of  enlistment  had  exoired  a."1d  TTe  waited  some  days  in  'i\ashington 

for  transportation  to  Michigan. 

I  did  not  recover  from  my  lassitude,  and 

could  eat  little  or  nothing. 

In  fact  the  feeling  grew  upon  me. 

I  conld 

not  account  for  it.  -'/Ve  finally  marched  to  the  depot  to  take  a  train  for 

home,  and  as  usual  in  such  a  case  the  train was  delayed  in  starting. 

'We 

lay  in  the  depot  nearly  all  night.  Unable  to  sit  up,  I  sought  the  hard 

planks  for  a  bed.  After  dCl.ylight  we  han  reach8d  Baltimore,  forty  miles 

distant,  where  I  fO"lmd  myself  completely  broken  out  with  measles. 

I  shall 

long  reme-rnber  that  tri9. 

~Ji th  no  means  of  lyinf!  dm'm;  2  cool  wirld  COD:3tant(cid:173)

ly blowing  through  the  car:  by  the  time  \'{e  reached  Cleveland,  the  eruption 

had  disap888red;  hac'!  F:;one  back,  as  they  say.  Here  I  was  )laced  in  a  sleeping 

28 

Car  with  some  others. 

It was  a  car with  bunks  up  the  side,  not  like  the 

palatial  cars  of  the  present  day. 

I  have  no  remembrance  of  the  trip  from 

Cleveland  to  iNashington. 

I  have  a  dim  recollection  of  hearing  the  cannon 

boom  as  we  came  into  Detroit,  but  I  was  nearly unconscious,  nearly  deaf 

and  blind. 

I  was  placed  in  a  carriage  and  driven  to  st.  Mary's  Hospital. 

A member  of  the  regiment,  also  afflicted with  the  measles,  lay  in  a  bed 

next  to  mine.  Within  half  an  hour  of  our  entering  the  hospital,  he  rolled 

from  the  little  bed  to  the  floor,  and  when  they  picked  him  up  he  was  dead. 

It  did  not  shock  me,  for  Iwas  past  shock. 

It is  a  ·wonder  that  I  lived, 

but  after  remaining  between  three  and  four  weeks  ther~,  I  was  able  to  get 

up  and  walk  around. 

I  then  left  the  hospital  and  went  to  Uncle  ,lests  at  Ottawa  Lake. 

I  hoped 

soon  to  be  able  to  reenlist. 

I  had  no  home  and  did  not  intend  to  trespass 

upon  the  hospitality  of  Uncle  West,  but  I  did  not  gain  strength.  Sometime 

after  reaching  there,  I  rode  to  Blissfield,  some  seven  miles  distant  on 

horseback.  The  trip was  accomplished  with  some  difficulty.  After  remaining 

in  Blissfield  for  tyl'"O  or  three  hours,  visiting with  my  sister  Laura,  I  start(cid:173)

ed  to  return.  After  riding  some  tw·o  miles,  I  was  taken  ';'lith  such  a  terrible 

pain  through  my  chest,  that  I  found  riding  impossible,  and  had  to  dismount 

and  lead  the  horse. 

I  was  nearly  bent  double  vdth  the  pain. 

In  this  con(cid:173)

dition  I  made  the  last  five  miles. 

I  was  put  to  bed  unconscious  and  a  doctor 

sent  for.  Here  I  remained  for  some  weeks,  which  had  little  meaning  for  me, 

for  I  was  randering  most  of  the  time.  The  doctor  said  that  I  had  typhoid 

pneumonia,  the  result  of  the  measles,  and  that  if I  had  not  been  taken  a3 

I  was,  that  I  could  not  have  lived  three  months.  This  sickness,  then,  was 

my  S9l vation.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  stand  firmly  upon  my  feet,  I  learned 

that  one  Wells  was  raising  a  company  for  the  Michigan  Lancer  Regiment.  A 

British  colonel  of  cavalry  had  received  a  colonel's  commission  in  our  service 

for  the  purpose  of  raising  and  commanding  such  a  regiment.  We  knew  later 

that  such  a  re gimenl~. would  be  of  no  service  as  lancers,  but  no  one  seemed 

' 

to  know  it  then. 

,;,[e  rendevouzed  at  Detroit.  At  the  tjme  of  the  Trent  affair, 

when  Mason  and  Slidell were  taken  from  a  British  ship  by  Captain  ~i;ilkes, 

','rar  with  c.;ngla.nd  seemerl  imminent,  and  our  British  Colonel  resie:ned.  No  one 

was  aOJointed  in  his  place,  Vie  were  kept  for  a  time  in  Detroit  and  finally 

discharged. 

-~\hy we  were  nClt  retained  in  the  service  as  a  cavalry  regL'1lent 

I  do  not  know,  but  suppose  that  the  government  thought  it  ha.d  all  it  needed 

of  that  branch  of  the  service. 

Ca~)tain ~··rells  then  pro )osed  to  raise  a  comoany  for  one  of  the  regiments 

of  thA  IIE;agle  -qiffle  Prigade, 11  then  being  rec rui ted  at  Buffalo. 

I,  with 

tW()  or  three  othors,  'Nent  down  with  him  to  enter  this  service.  The  camp 

was  at  Fort  fo rter  on  the  !"iagara  B.i ver.  He re  life] 1 s  loft  us.  Here  we  re(cid:173)

mained  for  nearly  tyro  weeks.  Though  we  vrere  not  enlisted,  we  were  not  per(cid:173)

mitted.  to  go  outside  the  gates. 

It  became  exceedingly monotonous  and  I  na de 

up  my  mind  to  end  it. 

'T'he  railroad  ran  between  the  fort  and  the  river  at 

the  foot  of  a  very  steep  embanlanent.  A  sentry walked  along  the  edge  of  this 

embankment. 

I  carelessly walked  to  the  edge  of  this  embankment  and  slid 

down  to  the  railroad  track.  The  sentry  cried  halt,  but  I  steadily  pursued 

my  'tray  up  the  track  to  the  city.  At  Huff I s  Hotel,  so  called,  they were 

enli.sting  men  for  the  regular  army,  and  I  ,yalked  in  and  pr'lPlosed  to  enlist. 

\'ihen  I  gave  my  name  and  age,  the  officer  ask'3d  if my  Darents  ':'rere  living, 

to  ,rhich  I  ans:'rered  II no ". 

I  don It  thin.l{  this  lie  ha.s  been  laid  against  me. 

The  officer  thGn  said  it '.'.'Oulc)  be  necessary  to  choose  a  guardian.  He  walked 

over  to  a  groce~J near  by,  the  propri3tor  consented  to  act  as  my  guardian, 

I  accepted  him  and  he  gave  me  permission  to  enlist. 

'\".'hereuPlon  I  was  enlisted. 

It  seemed  and  still  seems  about  as  comolet9  a  farce  as  could  well  be  enacted, 

but  it  got  me  into  the  regular  service.  Now  began my  real  service  as  a 

"Soldier  of  the  'Re  )Ublic. II 

After  receiving  my  uniform,  I  was  free  to  go  where  I  pleased,  and  I  saun-

30 

tered  back  to  Fort  Porter  and  walked  around  very  independently.  No  one 

tried  to  stop  my  entry  or  exit. 

In  a  few  days  some  sixteen  recruits  had 

been  collected,  and  we  were  sent  to  Governors  Island  in  [IIe';'[  York  Bay. 

Here  we  remained  for  about  a  month.  A  young  fellow  by  the  name  of  Field 

and  myself  constituted  a  whitevrash  squad.  We  did  little but  whila'rash 

government  buildings  while  at  the  Island,  and  we  were  not  especially  proud 

of  our  work.  It vras  not  very  heroic.  Finally one  hundred  and  twenty-six 

of  us  were  started  for  the  West,  to  join  Batteries  H.  and  M.  of  the  Fourth 

United  States  Artillery.  The  4th  Regiment  of  Artillery was  composed  of  twelve 

companies  that  had  been  used  as  infantry before  the  -war.  The  companies 

were  now  -organized  as  batt  eries,  and  scattered,  part  being  in  the  Sast  and 

part  in  the  'ifest.  Battery M.  to  which  I  was  assigned  at  the  breaking  out 

of  the  war  was  at  Fort  Randall  in  Dakota. 

Its  Ca ;tain was  one  Brolim,  a 

northern man  with  a  southern  wife,  and  he  was  decidedly  of  secession  tenden(cid:173)

cies.  He  resigned  and  entered  the  Confederate  service,  and  became  a  general 

officer  and  ,"vas  wounded  in  our  front  at  Franklin.  Our  first  lieutenant 

','[as  Stephan  Decatur  Lee,  one  of  the  Lees  of  Virginia.  He  also  resigned  at 

the  beginning  of  the  war,  entered  the  Confederate  service,  and  rose  to  the 

rank  of  lieutenant  general.  He  commanded  a  corps  in  Hoods  Army. 

We  went  by  rail  to  Pittsburg  and  there  took  the  Mariner,  an  old  stern 

wheeler,  for  a  trip  down  the  Ohio  to  the  Tennes,see,  and  up  that  river  to 

Pittsburg  Landing. 

It was  a  trip  of  nearly  1300  miles. 

'Nhen  our  old  craft 

reached  i,llieeling  on  the  Ohio  a  cyclone  came  up  and  drove  US  on  the  bank 

and  blevl  off  the  entire  upper works,  cabin  and  all.  As  we  were  not  cabin 

passengers,  but  herded  vrith  the  mules  and  other  animals  on  the  lower  deck, 

we  escaped  the  wreckage.  There  vrere  quite  a  few  passengers  above,  and  they 

went  off 1'Tith  the  debris.  There  was  a  fellow  with  us,  a  Tennesseen  by  the 

name  of  Jones  and  a  natural  thief.  He  saw  a  coat  floating  in  the  '.'Tater  and 

31 

captured  it. 

In  a  long  po~ketbook he  found  a  large  quantity  of  money  in 

bills.  Jones  could  not  read  and  did  not  knolT  hO'."[  to  count  the  money,  but 

he  had  a  sort  of  chum  who  could. 

.'30  Jones  agreed  to  divide  the  money Tri th 

him.  He  counted  it out,  gave  Jones  one  bill  and  keot  one  for  himself. 

That  nif:ht  as  we  landed  at  the  shore  for  lvood,  the  chum  escaped  or  deserted 

and  we  never  say!  or  heard  of  him  after:rards. 

Jones  had  a  large  number  of 

one  dollar  bills,  and  it  appears  that  his  friend  would  give  Jones  a  one  d ollar 

bill  and  keep  one  of  larger  dimensions  for  himself.  There  was  not  much 

sympathy wasted  upon  Jones,  however. 

In  passing  I  miGht  say  that  a  fe'.'; 

years  ago  I  had  a  letter from  a  doctor  in  Dixie,  Kentucky,  who  said  that 

Jones  lived  there  and  was  a  helpless  paralytic.  He  could  not  s et  a  pension 

as  he  was  enlisted  as  "Johns, II  and  he  wanted  me  to  make  an  affidavit  as  to 

his  identity.  This  I  did  and  sent  to  him,  but  have  no  knovrled ge  as  to  vmether 

he  got  a  pension. 

Vie  were  transferred  to  a  sidewheeler  at  i'J'beeling  after  our  ship'iJreck, 

and  proceeded  d01m  the  Ohio.  Changinr;  boats  again  at  Louisville  ,'Ie  continued 

the  voyage  d01m  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee,  and  u :)  this  river  to  eitts(cid:173)

burg  Landing.

:'fe  were  something  over  six  days  in  making  the  trip,  as  I  now 

remember.  The  weather  ~rew very warm  as  v,e  proceeded;  the  chill was  tpne 

from  the  air,  and  up  the  'l'ennessee  especially,  the  weather  was  delightful. 

Forests  for  many  miles  lined  its  banks,  with  here  and  there  a  plantation. 

Pittsburg  Landing  was  then  simply ',mat  its  name  inplied,  a  ~~nd~ng.  There 

were  no  buildings  of  any  imnortance.  It IS  '!'Torihy  of  mention  only  because 

of  the  terrible  battle  fought  there  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  April  of  that 

year.  Pere  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  Grant  had  c oncentrated  his 

army,  preparatory  to  an  advance  upon  Corinth,  l.1issip rJi,  <,ome  eighteen  mile s 

distant.  The  Confederate  army  lay  at  Corinth,  under  the  c ormnand  of  Albert 

,Sidney  Johnston,  considered  to  be  on  of  the  ablest,  if not  the  first,  soldier 

of  the  South.  Corinth was  of  great  strategic  importance,  being  connected 

32 

by  railroads  with  the  very  heart  of  the  Confederacy.  Grant's  army  had  gone' 

up  the  river.  The  Army  of  the  Ohio  under  Don  Carlos  ~~ell had  commenced  its 

march  by  land  from  Eashville,  Tennessee  via  Columbia.  But  the  vreather  "ras 

stormy,  and  the  mud  deep,  and  many  bridges  had  been  carried  a1'ray  so  that 

its  progress  '';\fas  slow.  Sunday  afterno on  its  first  division,  (Nelsons),  reach-

ed  Savannah,  on  the  river  and  some  seven  miles  below  Pittsburg  Landing. 

Grant  had  some  31,000  men  at  the  Landing.  He  was  wholly  unsuspicious  of 

attack.  He  had  four  divisions  at  the  Landing,  and  Lew  Jjallace' s  division 

lay  at  Crumps  Landing  fbre  miles  below  on  t.he  same  side  of  the  river. 

;"10  entrenchm8nts  of  cmy  kind,  had  been  thrown  u o,  and  very  little  examina-

tion made  of  the  front.  Under  these  circu .. mstances  Johnston  decided  to  anti-

ciDate  Grant's  advance  by  an  attack  u ;)on  him  at  Pittsburg  Land ing. 

~ie  knew 

that  Buell  had  not  arrived,  and  he  1)roposed  to  crush  Grant  before  the  Army 

of  the  Ohio  could  reach  the  Landing.  He  commenced  his  march  from  Corinth 

vdth  40,000  men.  He  expected  to  attack  Saturday,  but  the  roads  were  horrible, 

and  he  only  had  his  army  in  position  in  frort of  Grant  by  Sa.turday  night. 

Beaur8garo,  '.Tho  was  second  in  command  under  Johnston,  advised  a gaim=t the 

attack,  as  he  considered  that  a  surprise  was  :im:pos s ible.  But  Johnston,  with 

clearer  insight,  determined  to  attack.  The  proximity  of  Johnston's  army 

seems  to  have  been  unsuspected  by  our  troops.  Grant  "ras  at  Savannah,  seven 

miles  below.  Both  Grant  and  Sherman  in  their  }.lemoirs,  have  since  claimed 

that  there  was  no  sUr.9rise. 

If Grant  kne':.r  tha t  his  army 1'TaS  confronted  by 

Johnston  in  line  of  battle  t\'-TO  miles  avray,  vrhy  was  he  sleeping  so  peacefully 

at  :=;avannah  seven  miles  distant?  It is  not  easy  to  convince  an  old  soldier 

that  the  Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  was  not  a  surprise  at  its  corrnnencement. 

This  battle  is  sometimes  called  "%iloh,"  from  a  little  church  so  named, 

standing  back  some  t ro  or  three  miles  from  the  I.anding. 

Johnst on  attacked  at  daylight. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  battle. 

After  d8soarate 
the  Landing . 

fighting  all  day,  our  troops  vrere  driven back  nearly  to 

Johnston  ha.d  been  killed  a.bout  noon,  and  Beaure[r,ard  assumed 

33 

command  of  the  Confederate  army.  When  ~T8lson reached  Savannah  his  division(cid:173)

':faS  ordered  upon  steamers  and  taken  to  the  Landing. 

It reached  its  destina(cid:173)

tion  about  sundown,  a  welcome  relief.  One  bris;ade  landed  as  ni f:':ht  C3me  dO',m, 

and  one  re giment,  the  36th  Indiana,  fired  a  couple  of  volleys  and  had  two 

wounded.  During  the  ni2:ht  McCooks  and  another  division  of  the  Army  of  the 

Ohio  arrived,  and  also  LeV[  VJallace 's  division  from  Crumps  Landing.  The  battle 

was  resumed  in  the  morning  and  the  Confederate  troops  driven  back  to  Corinth. 

Halleck  assumed  command  of  both  Grant's  and  Buell's  armies.  C-€neral 

Halleck  had  been  nicknamed  by  the  soldiers,  "01d  Brains. 11 

If  by  that  term 

-,v'as  meant  lack  of  brains,  it was  well  a Jplied.  General  PO'Je,  who  had  just 

taken  Island  ~10.  Ten,  vri th  some  seven  thou sand  pris oners,  'das  8rdered  to 

join  T{alleck  i"rith  his  trolJPs,  and  Halleck  soon  had  over  one  hundred  thousand 

men. 

',ith  this  immense  force  he  advanced  slowly  u iJ on  Corinth,  and  was  near(cid:173)

ly within  attacking  distance~  He  began  a  siege  by  slo"?[  asnroilches.  The 

army  had  been  divided  into  the  right  and  left ·;'dngs.  Grant  vras  nominally 

in  cOmID<ll1d  as  second,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  vras  in  disgrace,  with 

no  command  whatever.  Beauregard  lay  outside.  This  was  the  condition 'when 

our  detachment  of  1 26  men  reached  Corinth  a.nd  joined  Batteries  H.  and  M. 

of  the  'Rth  Artillery,  then  in  Ammens  Brigade  of  Nelson'S  Diyision  of  the 

Army  of  the  Ohio. 

I  became  a  member  of  Pattery M.  Batteries  H.  ~nd rI. 

were  united  at  that  time  and  served  as  one  organization,  under  the  command. 

of  Cautain  John  Mendenhall.  Sach  company  had  four  guns,  tvw  Hodman  rifles, 

and  t'.70  12  pound  h()1.'vitzers.  A battery  of  artillery  consisted  of  four  or 

six  guns.  With  each  gun  '<ras  a  caisson. 

'Xith  the  gun  vras  a  limber,  so  called. 

The  limber  vras  uoon  two  wheels,  vri th  a  ton[..;;ue  in  front  much  like  a  vlagon. 

An  ammunition  chest  that  held  from  39  to  100  rounds  of  ammunition was  situ(cid:173)

ated  over  the  axle. 

The  gun  itself yvas  u Jon  t,yO  wheels,  and  a  long,  curved  timber  called  the 

stock was  ironed  to  the  axle  of  the  gun  and  re.sted  u:Jon  the  f~round. 

In 

34 

this  position  the  gun  vras  ready  for  firing.  On  the  end  of  the  stock was 

a  ring  called  the  lunette  ring,  and  on  the  axle  of  the  limber  was  a  hook 

called  the  pintle  hook. 

;Inen  the  gun  was  to  be  moved,  the  stock was  raised 

from  the  ground,  the  lunette  ring  placed  over  the  pintle  hook,  and  then 

you  had  a  four  wheeled  vehicle.  The  cais'3on  consisted  of  a  1inber,  just 

like  the  g;m,  and  interchangab1e,  and  brIO  additional  chosts  of  ammunition 

in  the  rear.  Also  a  s )are  -,rheel.  7ihen  by  firing,  the  chest  of  the  gun 

1:imher  ,"ras  empty,  the  limber  of  the  caisson ,"rou1d  be  unhooked  and  drivr:m 

up,  and  the  empty  limber  driven  back  to  the  caisson  and  its  chest  filled 

from  one  of  the  rear  chests. 

Bach  r;un  and  caisson was  dravm  by  six  horses,  called  the  lead,  ffi·ving 

and  vrhee1  teams. 

A.  driver  rode  each  near  or  left  hand  horse.  There  was 

also  a  battery wagon  B.nd  forge  connected  with  each  battery.  The  "ragon  con(cid:173)

tained  tools  and  the  forge  vms  for  the  same  purnose  as  a  blacksmith's  forge. 

8ach  battery  also  had  a  blacksmith  and  an  artificer.  These  "rere  for  shoeing 

the  horses  and  for  reoairs  ~'{hen  needed.  A  six  gun  battery when  fully  manned 

had  about  120  men. 

'T'here  "ras  a  captain,  three  lieutenants,  one  cormnissary 

sargant,  one  quartermaster  sergeant,  one  orderly  of  first  sergeant,  six 

duty  sergeants,  six  corporals,  one  blacksmith,  one  artificer,  one  bugler, 

thirty-nine  drivers,  forty-two  cannoneers,  and  several  to  drive  -:;ragons  \1[ith 

rations,  forage  and  quartermaster  suoplies. 

Each  gun  ':faS  supposed  to  be  manned  by  a  sergeant,  a  cor0oral  and  seven 

@lnners.  ~~ber one  stood  on  the  right  of  the  muzzle  and  s~onged the  gun 

and  rammed  the  cartridge.  Number  tT'O  on  the  left  of  the  muzzle  placed  the 

cartridge  in  the  gun.  Number  three  stood  at  the  ri f!ht  of  the  breech  and 

ke ot  his  thumb  on  the  vent  Yvhi1e  number  one  vms  s Jonging  and  ranuning.  Humber 

four  was  on  the  left  of  the  breech,  vii th  a  lanyard  and  friction  primer,  and 

when  the  loading was  comoleted  he  placed  the  friction  primer  in  the  vent 

and  discharged  the  gun.  Number  five  stood  at  the  end  C)f  the  stock,  took 

35 

the  cartridge  from  number  se\l'en  and  handed  it  to  number  tvlO. 

~,\.unber  six 

stood  behind  the  limber  chest,  took  out  the  cartridges,  cut  the  fuses  to 

the  lengths  ordered  by  the  sergeant  and  handed  them  to  number  seven. 

lfumber 

seven  took  the  cartridges 

from  number  six,  ran  fon-lard  and  harrIed  them  to 

number  five  iTho  ran  to  number  tyro  and  gave  the  cartridge  to  him.  This  seems 

rather  complicated,  but  when  each  man  knovrs  his  business,  firing went  on 

very  ra:)idly,  a.s  many  as  seven  or  eight  shots  a  minute  being  fired.  A 

bucket  of  water "ms  al·,rays  carried,  and  rmmber  one  always  dipped  his  sponge 

on  one  end  of  the  rammer  and  wiped  out  the  gun  before  the  cartridge  -was 

inserted.  We  hear  of  many  accidents  from  the  premature  discharge  of  cannon 

at  Fourth  of  <July  celeb  rations. 

I  never  knew  of  such  an  accident  in  the 

army,  though  they  may  have  occurred. 

~i{e  fired  2400  rounds  from  eight  guns 

at  Stone  "Piver,  and  thousands  during  the  '"far,  without  a  prel'1ature  explosion. 

The  only  requisite  VTaS  to  keep  the  vent  carefully thummed  so  as  to  exclude 

all  air vrhile  the  g1m  was  being  mTabbed. 

The  men  manning  each  gun  vvith  its  caisson was  called  2.  detachment.  Tao 

guns  was  called  a  section  and  \'vas  under  the  command  of  a  lieutenant.  Each 

gun  and  caisson  ha.d  a  large  canvass,  called  a  tarpoulen,  used  to  cover  them 

when  in  camp. 

\'[e  found  them  very uS'3ful  to  put  up  for  shelter  in  times  of 

storm  ,'ihen  on  the  march. 

Such  was  the  general  complement  of  a  battery during  the  Civil ';Iar. 

Then  all  the  guns  were  muzzle  loaders. 

Eov{  muzzle  loading  cannon  are  un(cid:173)

!movfla,  and  the  methods  of  ol)Arating  a  battery  of  artillery must  be  vastly 

different. 

The  seige  of  Corinth was  a  very  tame  affair.  No  attempt  was  made  to 

assault,  which  may  have  been  very  good  judgement  and  saved  many  lives.  A 

portion  of  our  forces  were  pushed  around  the  Confederate  flank  to  get  posses(cid:173)

sion  of  the  railroad  by which  the  enemy  had  a  retreat  to  carry  off  its  heavy 

material,  and  as  the  o8ril  increased,  HSCl.uregard  prepared  to  evacuate  the 

place.  During  the  night  of  1.;ay  27th,  I  think,  we  heard  heavy  explosions 

vrithin  the  city,  and  the  next  morning  our  troops  entered,  the  enemy  having 

evacuated,  carrying  off  most  of  their material  and  burninf7,  the  remainder. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  campaign,  the  capture  of  Corinth,  was  thus 

accomplished.  But  the  Confederate  Anny  still  remained  intact  and  defiant. 

The  capture  of  po'dtions  merely,  however  strategic,  are  of  comparatively 

small  importance,  while  the  enemy's  forces  rem2.in  in  the  field.  Chattanooga 

on  the  Tennessee  Diver  was  a  place  of  more  importance  that  Corinth. 

It 

had  the  Tennessee  River  in  its  fr  ont,  and  lines  of  oo;Jnmunication  ran  south 

to  Atlanta  and  the  very  heart  of  the  South,  as  well  as  to  East  Termessee, 

vrhich  was  extremely  loyal  to  the  Union. 

At  this  time  Halleck  was  called  to  -~Iashington  to  be  Adjutant  C-€neral 

and  to  direct  the  movement  of  all  the  armies.  A more  unfortunate  choice 

was  never  wade.  Before  Falleck  left  for  the  ~ast,  the  army  before  Corinth 

was  divided.  A  part  of  Polk's  Army  was  returned  to  Hissouri.  Grant  lims 

given  command  of  the  Hissippi,  including  Hemphis  and  do.m  the  river  to  the 

indefinite  line  held  by  Putler  at  Ne~r  Orleans.  Buell,  w'ith  the  Army  of  the 

Ohio,  of  which  I  was  an  individual  unit,  was  to  move  to  Chattanooga.  Here 

occurred  another  brilliant  example  of  Halleck's  strategy-.  There  was  a  rail(cid:173)

road  running  from  Corinth  to  Chattanooga  that  was  parallel  to  the  line  of 

th3  enemy.  Halleck  ordered  Buell  to  m,we  toward  Chattanooga  along  this 

railroad  and  repair  it  as  we  went.  All  south  of  this  road  vras  he ld  by  the 

enemy. 

It vrould  take  our whole  army  to  have  guarded  this  line.  The  Con(cid:173)

federates  were  near  this  line  at  all  points,  could  break  in upon  it where 

vrea~-(ly  held  ;md  destroy  it.  Buell  wanted  to  abandon  this  railroad  and  hold 

the  road  fr·')m  ~'ashville  to  Chattanooga,  vThich  was  perpendicular  to  the  enemy's 

line. 

'.Ie  had  I)ossession  of  the  district  on  both  sides  of  it  and  it  could 

be  more  easily  ~uarded.  But  :&1.ell  was  overruled,  and  the  result  demonstrated 

Halleck's  incomoetence. 

37 

Before  leaving  Corinth  we  were  ordered  to  turn  in  all  of  our  clothing 

but what  YfG  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  on  our  backs.  The  army  yras  to 

be  reduced  to  light  marching  order. 

It was  evidently  intended  that  we  should 

go  through  the  country  on  a  trot.  Fow  this  '.7as  to  be  done  and  the  railroad 

be  repaired  as  we  went,  is  a  mystery  that  only  the  brain  of  a  Halleck  can 

solve.  So  we  turned  in  our  overcoats,  8Artra  pants,  blouses,  shirts  and 

socks  which  were  barrelled  up  and  were  to  be  returned  to  us  later.  We 

n~ver  scl}'[  them  again.  All  that  SUImner  and  fall vThen  we  infrequently washed 

a  shirt,  vre  either  sat  in  the  shade  to  let  it dry,  or wore  a  blouse  and  ':rent 

shirtless  till the  SLln  c auld  dry  it.  The  members  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 

looked  like  a  set  of  ragamuffins  before  the  summer  of  1862  ,Tas  over. 

As  2,  result  of  Hallec1d3  order  to  repair  the  railroad,  CTeneral  Braxton 

Bragg,  "rho  had  superceded  Beauregard  in  the  command  of  the  Confederate  army, 

reached  Chattanooga  before  ,ve  did,  and  this  position was  left  in  the  hands 

of  the  South  for  fifteen  months  longer,  to  be  taken  at  last  at  the  cost  of 

many  thousand  lives. 

We 

'vere  for  a  short time  at  Iu1<:a,  Eississippi,  then  !'loved  on  throught 

Alabama,  cross0d  the  Tennessee  at  Florence,  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 

1862,  w'ere  at  Athens,  Alabama.  Here  occurred  the  death  of  a  comrade  felt 

by  me  as  a  deep  personal  loss.  There  '!Jas  a  young  boy  in  the  battery from 

the  city of  ~Tew  York  by  the  name  of  Austin.  He  had  a  ·widowed  mother  and 

an  only  sister  there,  and  he  talked  of  them  to  me  often  and  vri th  the  most 

lively  affection.  He  was  a  boy  of  fine  breeding,  and  in  every vms  a  perfect 

way 

young  p;entleman. 

'.Ie  'Jere  attracted  to  eachother,  and  slept  under  the  same 

blanket,  and  ate  from  the  same  haversack.  At  1uka  we  f~ot  hold  of  some  flour 

and  made  a  batch  of  9ancakes.  They  vrere  not  very  light  or  ~!alatabh,  but 

'1m  ate  freely.  They  did  not  affect  me,  for  I  was  in  rohust  health  and  ()f 

much  stronger  ohysique  than  Austin.  He  became  sick  and  there  being  no  field 

hospitals,  he  ".'.fas  carried  all  through  the  month  of  ,June  in  an  ambulance 

through  the  hen.t  and  dust,  burning  with  fever.  At  Athens  he  died  and  vre 

buried  him  und.er.  a  gum  tree,  d ie;ging  a  shallo':,  grave,  and  v/rappinr,  him  in 

his  blanket. 

In  his  last  days  of  delirium  he  kept  calling  for  his  mother 

and  sister.  The  most  ominary  care  in  a  vIell  appointed  hospital  would  have 

saved  him,  but  he  died  a  victim  to  Hall~~ck' s  futile  idea  of  "Light  Farching 

Order. " 

During  the  eventful  summer  of  1862  we  lost  nearly  forty  of  the  one  hundred 

and  twenty  six who  caTTle  '/lith  us  from  the  Bast.  nost  of  them  7rere  men  past 

the  thirties.  1'he  boys  "tood  the  hardshiDs  of  cam'oair.;n  life  much  better 

th8,n  more  mature  men. 

I  might  say  in  passine;  th'1t  of  the  whole  number  who 

came  l'Tith  us,  but  sixteen 'were  discharged  from  the  battery  serving  their 

full  term  of  enlistment.  All  the  others  had  either  fallen  in battle,  died 

of  disease  or vf()unds,  or  gone  to  the  hospital  wrecked  in  health  and  never 

returned. 

It  is  a  ghastly  recita1. 

lIe  rema.ined  in Athens  for  some  days  afteI'  the  Fourth,  ';,hen  Forest  attack(cid:173)

ed  Murfreesboro,  where  the  T\Tinth  Fichigan,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 

-.. fm.  Duffield_  of  Detroit,  '/ra·g  enc3Jl1ped  vrith  some  troops,  and  ca )tured  tl1CT!1 

and  the  town.  Nelson' s  Division  Has  at  once  ordered  to  proce'3d  to  : 1) I'frees(cid:173)

boro. 

"ire  took  a  train  at  Atnens  and  proceod8d  by  rail  through  Pulaski, 

Columbia  and  Frank] in  to  l';ashville.  An  incident  on  the  rout8  may  not  be 

OlJ,t  ,f pJ ace.  Our  battery -,-ras  U00n  flat  cars  .'[hile  the  rear  of  the  train 

was  cOI'mosed  of  many  box  c~~rs,  these  b~ing filled ,>rith  infantry  both  ';-!ithin 

and  on  top.  Our  engineer  had  been  imJressed  into  the  ~3evice  and  was  a  rank 

rebel.  The  engineer  ':Tould  let  the  train  ;31acken  and  then  suddenly  jerk 

it up,  in  a  way  quite  as  spiteful  as  his  temper. 

I  was  sittinG 'with  a  man 

nculled  Collins  on  a  flat  car.  The  car was  rotten  and  one  of  the  ,jerks  drew 

the  ["{heels  or  trucks  from  under  the  car, 

and  the  unlimbered  g;un  on  the 

car  ca9sized,  and  striking  Collins  on  the  chest,  killed  him  instantly. 

7he  train was  stoDped  and  Collin'S  body  laid  by  the  side  of  the  track. 

General  Nelson  ordered  the  engineer  back  by  the  body  and  there  vented  such 

39 

a  torrent  of  abuse  and  denunciation  upon  him  as  is  impossible  to  describe. ' 

He  repeatedly  struck  the  fellow  in  the  face  with  his  military  hat,  and  said 

to  the  men,  IShoot  him,  C-d  d--n  him,  shoot  him. II 

I  think  the  men  would 

have  a  minute  before,  but  the  abuse  of  tht"  general  rather  aroused  sympathy 

for  him. 

'rhe  engineer  said  to  Felson,  tlGive  me  a  fair  trial,  General, II 

who  replied,  IIYes  I  will  give  you  a  fair  trial vri th  a  rope. II  The  engineer 

was  finally  led  off  and  1vhat  became  of  him  I  never  heard.  Bngineers  were 

then  called  for  and  several  locomotive  engineers  were  found  among  the  sol(cid:173)

diers  of  the  brigade.  They  took  the "engine  and  Yfe  reached  Eashville  in 

due  season.  Almost  any  kind  of  men,  professional,  scientific  or  machinist 

could  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  army. 

We  derailed  at  Nashville  and  marched  to  };;urfreesboro,  a  distance  of 

thirty  miles.  de  were  without  money,  but  one  soldier was  found  v{ho  had  a 

supply  and  he  invited  several  including  myself  to:;o  to  a  restaurant  and 

get  a  meal  of  I1soft  Bread l!  as  it '."ras  called. 

i're  had  eaten  nothing  but  hard(cid:173)

tack  and  sowbelly  for  months  and  the  invitation was  much  appreciated. 

I 

recall  distinctly  that  VJ"8  were  supplied  with  bread,  fried  egr;s  and  beef 

steak,  and  seldom  has  a  meal  been  disposed  of  more  rapidly  or vrith  better 

appetite.  This  meal  was  at  Nashville  during  our  brief  stay  there.  Nash(cid:173)

ville was  then  the  chief  depot  of  supplies  for  Buell' '3  Army. 

It 'Has  a  city 

of  about  20,000  situated  on  the  Cumberland  River,  about  t,:w  hundred  miles 

from  its  mouth.  This  river ·was  navigable  for  about eit;ht  months  in  the  year 

for  quite  large  steamers. 

It ':ras  also  connected  with  Louisville,  Kentucky, 

by  the  Louisville  I:ashville  "'1ailroad,  and  by  these  uV"o  routes  all  the  supplies 

for  the  army  came  from  the  north.  Nashville  has  gro"Jll  to  be  a  large,  rich 

and  important  city  since  the  war. 

It vras  settled  by  Col.  Davidson,  after 

whom  the  county  is  named,  just  after  the  settlement  of  Kentucky  by  Boone. 

·When  We  reached  Murfreesboro  we  found  everything  peaceful.  Forrest  had 

oaroled  his  prisoners  and  gone  vrithout  stopping  to  say  good  day  to  us.  Our 

entire  division,  consisting  of  three  brigades  soon  assembled  at  ;'::urfreesboro. 

I  might  say  that  this  town  is  on  Stone  River,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Nash(cid:173)

ville  and  Chattanooga  railroad. 

Its  population  at  the  time  of  the  war  might 

have  been  two  thousand.  But  there  v{ere  but  few  able  bodied  m,=n  in  the  to'Nn, 

on1y  women  and  chi.ldren.  The  men  "Jere  in  the  Confederate  army. 

We  remained  at  Murfreesboro  for  a  few  days  and  then  our  division .... ras 

sent  to  McMinnville.  This  is  a  beautiful  little  town  in  the  mountains, 

some  forty  miles  from  Hurfreesboro. 

It was  feared  that  Bragg  might  make  a 

break  from  Chattanooga  vri th  his  army  for  an  invasion  of  Kentucky,  and  we 

were  sent  there  as  a  eoros  of  observation.  For  some  time  ,Jrior  to  this 

I  had  been  feeling  poorly,  though  always  on  duty. 

I  had  some  sort  of  bowel 

complaint.  Upon  reaching  FcEinnville  the  pure  waV?r,  green  corn  and  peaches 

completely  cured  me  and  I  never  suffered  from  any  form  of  sickness  aft'?nvards. 

Bragg  did  start  uoon  an  inv8.sion  of  Kentucky,  but  he  did  not  come  c:ur 

way.  He  "Tent  throu2:h  Cu.mb<3rland  Gap.  This  movement  of  Bragg  called  for  a 

concentration  of  our  army. 

\le  Were  withdrawn  from  Mcr.Tinnville  and  marched 

to  J.Tashville  "f'rhere  the  army  gathered.  Bnell  determined  to  hold  t:ashville 

while  marching  vrith  the  rest  of  the  army  to  meet  Bragg  in  Kentucky.  To 

leave  jl1ashville  would  be  to  fight  the  battle  for  the  possession  of  'rennessee 

allover  again.  So  Thomas's,  Palmer's,  JI!egley's  am.  t!itchell's  divisions 

"prer8  left  in  the  re;:>r  for  the  protection  of  Hashville,  and  Buell  start~d 

a  race  wi.th  I1ragg  for  the  posses'1i')n  of  Louisville  with  Ammen's,  Crittenden'S, 

J\':cCook's,  ·:.iood's  and  rousseau's  divisions.  Nelson  had  been  sent  to  take 

command  in  Kentucky  to  09pose  Kirby  Smith,  who  had  invaded  that  state  in 

advance  of  Bragg,  and  Ammen  commanded  our  division. 

',:'Ihen  we  reached  Bowling 

Green,  Kentucky,  1're  found  ::mrselves  ':rithout  provisi0ns  except  a  little  flour. 

This  y';as  given  out,  or  issued. 

I  had  about  three  pounds. 

')hat  to  do  yvith 

it we  did  not  know. 

I  finally mixed  mine  vrith  a  little water  and  baked 

it  in  a  skill'?t.,'Then  it got  cold  it was  of  the  c')nsistency  and  about  the 

41 

color  of  a  whetstone. 

Even  a  soldier  could  not  eat  it.  For  the  next  two  weeks  we  lived  upon 

corn  gathered  from  the  fields. 

iie  "'/Quld  melt  a  canteen,  punch  the  halves 

full  of  holE!>  with  a  nail  and  scrape  the  corn  upon  it.  This  we  would  bake 

into  pancakes.  The  effect  of  this  coarse,  half  cooked  stuff  passing  through 

the  systemJ  must  be  knovm  to  be  appreciated.  But.  perhaps,  we  suffered 

more  for  vrater  than  for  food.  Kentucky  is  a  limestone  state,  and  the  pure 

water  seemed  to  have  sunk  below  the  surface.  For  days  all  the  ·water  we  got 

was  from  little  ~onds  of  surface  water,  always  muddy  from  the  trampling 

of  thousands  of  horses  and  mules,  and  not  infrequently w·ith  a  dead  mule  or 

so  lying where  we  had  to  dip  up  the  stuff.  That  was  a  pretty  hard  tvro  weeks. 

Bragg' 3  Army  and  our  own  were  on  nearly  -oarallel  roads,  each  striving 

to  be  ahead  at  Louisville,  but  there  was  no  fighting  except  at  Mumfordsville 

where  Bragg  captured  Col.  Wilder  and  some  four  thousand  men  before  we  reach(cid:173)

ed  the  place. 

At  the  end  of  about  two  weeks  we  struck  the  Ohio  at  the  mouth  of  Salt 

River,  some  twenty  miles  from  Louisville. 

'He  were  a  hard  looking  crowd. 

I  recall  that  there  was  but  one  leg  in  my  pants,  and  most  of  the  others 

were  in  a  similar  plight.  Dirty,  ragged  and  hungry  we  looked  over  into 

Indiana,  and  felt  that  it was  indeed  "God's  County. II  But  we  were  not  to 

see  it  again  f:>r  years.  Two  steamers  laden  with  hardtack  and  other  rations 

had  been  sent  to  us  and  the  boys  began  to  swarm  over  the  boats  and  to  thrOl-'T 

boxes  ashore.  The  boat  guards  called  frantically  for  them  to  stop,  that 

the  rations  had  to  be  issued,  but  the  boys  said  that  they were  issuing  th!lm. 

and  continued  to  unload  the  precious  grub.  Soon  '''Fe  had  plenty  to  eat  and 

were  hap0Y  despite  our  rags.  From  there  we  marched  to  Louisville,  drew 

clothing,  2nd  looked  more  like  soldiers  and  less  like  tramps. 

l.I8neral  Nelson,  our  former  division  commander,  wa·'3  killed  at  Louisville, 

by  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis  commanding  an  Indiana  Brigade  of  new  troops. 

43 

Nelson,  whose  headquarters  were  in  the  Galt  house,  asked  Davis  ho1:'[  many 

nruskets  he  had.  He  replied  ~~~~! 2500.  Nelson  turned  upon  him  and  said 

"Ab(mt,  aboutl1  and  applied  thC)  most  vile  and  opprohious  epithets  to  Davis. 

Nelson  then  turned  and  went  up  st",irs.  Davis  went  out  and  got  a  revolver 

and  returning  to  the  hotel  met  Nelson  as  he  was  descending  the  stairs. 

~'!ith  the  remark,  "Defend  yourself,  General  Nelson,"  he  fired,  killing  Nelson 

almost  instantly.  Davis  was  arrested,  his  trial  postponed  till after the 

war,  and  he  rose  to  the  command  of  a  corps  in  Sherman's  Army.  Our  battery 

and  the  Fourth  U.S.  Cavalry  escorted  Nelson's  body  to  the  cemetery. 

Many  new  regiJnents  reached  us  at  Louisville,  organized  under  the  call 

in  the  summer  of  1862.  Our  army,  fed,  clothed  and  reinforced,  soon  left 

Louisville  in  pursuit  of  Bragg  with  faces  again  turned  southward.  Bragg 

retreated  before  us  till  on  October  eigth  at  Perryville  we  had  quite  a  severe 

battle.  A  part  of  the  troo-ps  fought  the  battle  While  thousands  were  stand(cid:173)

ing  idle  within  easy  reach  of  the  field,  but  were  not  called  UDon. 

I  have 

ever  since  entertained  serious  doubts  of  the  ability  of  General  Buell. 

This  feeling  of  distrust  was  felt  by  the  entire  army,  and  it vms  a  common 

saying  of  the  soldiers  that  Buell  and  Bragg  were  brothers-in-laws  and  did 

not  wish  to  hurt  eachother.  The  battle  ';'ras  indecisive.  The  Union  loss  in 

killed  ann  wounded  was  about  h500,  mostly  from  the  command  of  General  Mc(cid:173)

Cook.  That  night  Bragg  retreated  and  we  followed  in  pursuit. 

My  experience  at  the  battle  of  Perry'ville  was  rather  a  peculiar  one. 

Our  cavalry were  engaged  in  front,  and  a  confederate  battery  in  the  edge 

of  a  wood  was  punishing  them  very  severely.  Our  battery vras  ordered  fon'lard 

to  silence  these  confederat8  guns.  There  v:as  a  sli[:ht  eminence  in  front 

that  hid  the  enemy's  battery  from  us,  and  vve  advanced  up  this  slight  hill 

to  get  a  view.  As  the  road  was  rather  narrow  and  dusty,  I  ran  on  ahead  of 

the  battery.  Nearing  the  top  of  the  hill  I  heard  a  cry,  "They  are  coming, 1/ 

and  at  that  moment  a  squad  of  our  cavalry  came  running  tovrards  me,  a.nd  before 

44 

I  could  get  out  of  the  way,  struck  and  knocked  me  dalm  am  sli ghtly trampled 

me.  They  were  folJovrecl  close  by  a  squad  of  Texas  cavalry,  some  two  hundred 

in  number,  and  these  also  ran  over  me,  thou gh  I  dre'!\"  myself  as  rapidly  as 

possible  towards  the  side  of  the  road,  feigning  all  the  time  to  be  as  near 

dead  as  possible,  yet  striving  to  be  out  of  reach,  not  only  of  the  Texans, 

but  of  our  oym  battery.  The  battery was  much  farther  back  than  I  was,  and 

unlimbering,  greeted  our  friends  vrith  discharges  of  cannister,  that  came 

uncomfortably  close  to  me,  but  speedily  disp8rsed  the  enemy.  The  only  serious 

damage  I  suffered  was  the  unmendible  destruction  of  my  pants  where  a  horse 

stepped  upon  me.  A  generous  red-headed  Irishman  by  the  name  of  Hiley  gave; 

me  a  pair  out  of  his  knapsack.  Later  I  was  hit  slightly be  a  fragment  of 

shell,  that  gave  me  a  chance  to  ride  for  a  day  or  two. 

Bragg  retreated  7.rith  what  plunder  he  7ras  able  to  transport  through  the 

Cumberl;:md  Gap,  and  the  invasicm  of  Kentucky  'Tras  over.  We  follollred  hjJn 

for  some  distance  but  ','rere  unable  to  overtaked  or  force  him  into  battle. 

Our  cavalry  at  thRt  time  of  the  war  were  very  inefficient,  and  perhaps 

merited  the  sneer ,0 f  our  generals  that  he  had  never  seen  a  dead  cavalryman. 

(JnG  of 

" 

/1. 

. 

Later  in  the  VJar  they  became  as  effective  a  body  of  horsemen  as  any  country 

could  boast. 

After  the  retreat  of  Bragg,  Hall~ck,  the  brainless,  who  presided  over 

the  army  at  Viashington,  insisted  that  Puell  should  make  a  campaign  into 

East  Tennessee.  This  would  have  compelled  a  march  of  about  240  miles,  over 

mountains  and  rivers,  without  comnnmicati()D  except  by  w"agon  trains,  there 

being  no  railroads  at  thB.t  time  through  that  section  and  very  few  roads 

of  any  kind.  This  Buell  refused  to  do,  and  on  the  24th  day  of  October, 

1862,  Buell '!las  relieved,  a  new  Department  called  the  Department  of  Cumber-

land  was  created,  embracing  all  of  the  state  of  Tennessee  lyinr,  east  of  the 

Tennessee  River,  and  such  parts  of  Alabama  and  Georgia  as  we  shou1d  succeed 

in  occupying. 

l/ajor  General  n.  -Rosecrans  vrasplaccd  in  comwand.  Fajor 

4) 

General  r~orge P.  Thomas  had  been  offered  the  command  but  declined  it. 

Rosecrans  had  managed  a  seccessful  campaign  in  ~'lest  Virginia  in  the  summer 

of  1861,  and  had  just  fought  the  Battle  of  Corinth,  defeating  the  enemy. 

:4e  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  one  of  the  greatest  strategists  that 

the  war  produced  upon  our  side. 

We  then  marched  If:lisurely  in  the  month  of  November  to  Eashville  and  arriv(cid:173)

,ed  there  about  the  first  of  December.  The  personal  incidents  during  this 

campaign were  so  insignificant  that  they  are  not  worth  mentioning. 

~!e  had 

no  tents  or  shelter  of  any  kind  from  the  time  we  left  Corinth  in  June  till 

we  reached  Eashville  in  December.  He  simply  lay  at  night  in  a  blanket  upon 

the  ground. 

If the  ground  was  wet  and  muddy  from  storms,  we  sometimes  man(cid:173)

aged  to  get  a  couple  of  rails  and  lay upon  them. 

I  recall  that  at  Somerset,  Kentucky,  in  l':ovember,  I  had  pulled  off  my 

shoes  before  going  to  sleep.  A,:rakening  in  the  nir:ht  I  found  that  about 

four  inches  of  snow  had  fallen,  my  feet  were  outside  the  blanket,  and  I  was 

pretty well  frozen.  A  guard  was  set  over  the  battery every  night,  and  this 

guard  had  collected  a  lot  of  rails  and  had  a  glorious  fire  and  several 

canteens  of  applejack,  which  liquid  refresment  was  very  common  in  Kentucky. 

I  went  to  the  fire  and  being  thoroughly  chilled,  took  a  deep  swig  of  the 

fiery  beverage. 

I  thought  then  that  applejack  had  its  uses  as  well  as  its 

abuses. 

-V'le  encamped  on  the  Murfreesboro  Pike,  some  five  miles  from  ~iashville, 

and  here  we  received  seven  months  pay,  being  the  first  we  had  since  entering 

the  service.  Here  I  SffiV  the  first  "Greenbacks, II  the  neces si ty  of  obtaining 

money  compelling  the  government  to  iS3Ue  these  I1promises  to  pay, 11  which 

continue  to  this  day  and  are  a  very  abnormal  sort  of  currency.  But  it  did 

its  work  as  a  .. Tar  necessity,  and  still  enjoys  the  affection  of  the  people 

of  this  country. 

My  first  and  last  incarceration  in  the  "Guard  House,"  occurred  while 

46 

we  were  encamped  here.  Christmas  was  a  time  of  e:eneral  jollification  so 

far  as  our  meager  resources  would  permit. 

'1'hose  resources  vlere  chiefly 

"Roback  Bitters,11  which  was  a  poor,  very  lJoor,  kind  of whiskey. 

I  am  com(cid:173)

pelled  in  truth  to  say  that  almost  every  man  in  the  battery was  drunk  excelJt 

myself.  As  a  matter  0f  fact  I  never  cared  for  the  stuff,  and  deserve  no 

spec ial  commenda.tion  for  not  drinking  it.  The  next  morning  the  c amp  was 

quite  a  sight,  and  Corporal  Wayne,  a  little  crooked  legged  3ngliJhman,  ordered 

me  to  take  a  shovel  and  clean  up  the  c amp. 

It  made  Ire  pretty mad,  for  I 

had  created  none  of  the  muss,  and  I  blankly  refused. 

1:'1hereupon  Wayne  advanced  upon  me  with  a  shovel  in  the  attitude  of  strik(cid:173)

ing,  I  launched  out  with  my  fist  and  he  fell  or  stumbled  into  a  small  fire 

burninE  in  the  camp.  He  promptly  put  me  in  the  guardhouse.  This  jail con(cid:173)

sisted  of  a  tarpaulin  stretched  over  a  pole,  and  VIaS  crowded  c:lith  a  gang 

of  druru(en  roisterers.  The  sergeant  of  the  v~ard,  Dobson,  told  mo  to  go 

dmvn  for  the  day  and  visit  in  ~Tashville,  only  to  be  back  by  sundo1:m  to  report. 

As  I  VTaS  taken  to  the  pen,  one  of  its  inmates,  Jack  Haney,  said  to  the 

Corooral,  "Corooral  Yr~yne,  you  put  the  boy  into  the  guard  house,  but  before 

vTe  leave  the  battery  he  will  be  First  Sargeant,"  and  strange  to  3ay,  his 

prediction  came  true. 

I  'went  to  Hashville,  sent  forty  dollars  to  Sister 

Frances  by  express,  took  a  bottle  of  brandy  back  to  Dobson  and  was  discharged. 

I  have  some  old  lE')tters  that  I  wrote  to  Y.ly  sisters  during  the  '.'lar,  and 

as  shoYring  the  ~eneral  spirit  of  the  a.rmy,  I  quote  briefly  from  one  written 

eluring  this  time. 

Dear  Sister  Fannie: 

"Caro.p  near  ]\Tashville,  ]\Tov.  16th,  lEl62 

The  army  has  not  yet  left  I,Tashville,  though  there  is  talk  of  leaving  soon, 

but  ';.'e  ';TiJl  not  J.eave  till  ready.  Vie  have  c'lnfidence  in  our  genera.l  and 

~'rhen we  ",ove  all will  be  ITell.  The  enemy  is  at  Murfreesboro,  and  in  strong 

J-l-7 

force,  but  we  are  able  to  whip  them  and  know  it.  Burnside  is  fighting  the' 

rebels  and  he  has  the  prayers  of  union  men  in  the  j\Torth,  I  am  sure. 

(Burn(cid:173)

side  was  terribly  beaten  at  Fredricksburg  the  following  month.)  We  have 

had  enough  of  hanging  back.  We  want  fighting.  That  alone  cem  subdue  the 

Rebellion,  and  the  men  of  the  v{estern  Army  are  ready  for  the  conflict. 

I 

hope  the  tj~e for  inaction  is  past,  and  that  we  shall  have  an  active  and 

glorious  campaign.  There  are  skirmishes  most  every  day  in  our  front,  and 

a  battle  is  imminent." 

The  long,  useless  marches  without  fighting  had  tired  us  as  you  can dis(cid:173)

cover  from  the  above  letter. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  STmJE  RIVER 

Bragg,  aft<3r  his  retreat  from  Kentucky,  advanced  to  Murfreesboro 

Our 

army  had  been  reorganized  under  R,Osencrans  into  three  army  corps:  the  four(cid:173)

teenth  conunanded  by  George  H.  Thomas;  the  twentieth  commanded  bJr  A.,  McD.  " 

McCook,  and  the  twenty-first  commanded  by  Thomas  L.  Crittenden,  all  Ma.ior 

Generals.  Each  corps  consisted  of  three  divisions,  each  division  of  three 

brigades.  ~ach brigade  consisted  of  from  three  to  five  regiments  of  infan(cid:173)

try with  a  battery  of  artillery.  There  '.'ras  also  the  cavalry.  Our  battery 

was  in  John  M.  Palmers  division  of  the  20th  Corps.  Col.  Gross  commanded 

our  brigade,  and  it consisted  of  the  Sixth  and  ~venty-fourth Ohio,  Thirty(cid:173)

sixth  Indiana,  tvventy-third  Kentucky,  and  Eighty-fourth  lllinois  regiments 

of  infantry,  and  batteries  H.  & M.  of  the  Fourth  United  States  Artillery. 

Our  army  was  to  advance  and  attack  Bragg  at  Stone  Hiver,  or  Murfreesboro, 

near  ~hich the  river  runs.  Our  force  consisted  of  37,977  in .antry,  2223 

artillery,  3200  cavalry,  or  a  total  of  43,000.  (Cists  "Army  of  the  Cumber(cid:173)

land"  page  l27~.  B  ragg1s  field  return  of  December  loth,  1862,  showed  an 

effective  total  of  39,304  infantry;  10,070  cavalry,  and  1,662  artillery, 

being  a  total  of  51,036.  His  army  was  reduced  by  detachments  to  46,604 

which 'lra-s  the  number  of  confederates  present  in  the  battle. 

48 

Our  army  commenced  its  advance  towards  i':;urfreesboro  on  Friday,  December' 

26th.  Of  Thomas's  Coros  b  ut  two  divisions  and  one  brigade  were  with  us. 

Of  its  five  divisions  th2t  of  I.·;ajor  General  J"T.  Eeynolds  and  alRo  b:ro 

brigades  of  Fry's  division were  guarding  the  Louisville  and  Hashville  Rail(cid:173)

road. 

:'ritchell' s  division was  left  to  guard  'lfashville.  EcCook  had  three 

riivisir:'ns  under  Johnson,  Davis  and  Sheridan.  Crittenden  had  three  divi<3ions 

under  '~'food,  Van  Cleave  and  Palmer. 

rIe  wer8  with  the  latter. 

'1'hus  we  h::td 

eight  divisions  and  one  brigade  of  infantry.  Pragr;  had  three  corps  at  j·,Iur(cid:173)

freesboro  under  Polk,  Kirby  and  Hardee  respectively.  By  100kinE;  at  the  map 

of  Tennessee  our  advance  can  be  easily tr,'lced.  TLcCook  moved  his  corps  on 

the  FoJ insville  pike  to  Triune.  Thomas  advanced  on  il,icCook' s  rir'ht  b:\r  the 

FrankJj,n  Pike.  Crittenden,  with  whOM  vre  -were,  was  to  advance  direct  to 

l.Iurfreesboro  on  the  L':urfreesboro  pike. 

So  we  commenced  our  thirty mile  advance  on  Murfreesboro.  On  the  26th 

we  advanced  as  far  as  Lavergne.  Skirmishing  cOrYnnenced  as  -we  cOIn.m.enced  the 

advance,  our  division,  Palmer's,  leading.  On  the  27th,  'Hood's  division 

led  and  we  advanced  to  stewart's  Creek,  five  miles  further.  There  was  con(cid:173)

tinuous  fighting  in  our  front  all  the  time,  but  the  enemy1s  skirmishers 

were  constantly  pushed  back.  The  2clth  '.'fas  Sunday  and  VTe  rested  all  that 

day.  Our  pickets  were  on  one  side  of  the  creek  and  the  confederates  on  the 

other,  and  they  declared  a  truce  for  a  short  time,  mingled  together  and 

exchanGed  coffee  for  tobacco.  The  confederates  had  no  coffee,  the  blockade 

having  cut  off  the  supply  to  them. 

It -..ras  a  great  deprivation.  They  used 

parched  "'heat  and  corn  as  a  s llbstitute. 

It was  even  worse  that  "PostUID.  II 

';Ie  ;'fere  abundantly  sup:oJ.ied  with  first  class  coffee  elurinG  the  w;:Jr,  and 

I  be1ieve  it  saved  tho'll sands  of  lives.  At  the  end  of  a  hard  day' 3  march, 

perhaps  through  mud  and  sleet,  a  quart  of  hot  coffee  in  the  camp  at  nip;ht 

was  very  rejuvenating.  The  fraternizing  of  the  soldiers  often  occurred 

during  the  war  as  happened  at  Ste'-rart' s  Creek.  The  men  in  the  op';Josing 

49 

armies  had  nothing  against  eachother  individually. 

I  supDose  that  both 

sides  believed  that  tl-Jey  'Here  fighting  for  the  right.  So  after  one  of  these 

friendly meetings,  they "rould  separate  and  begin  shooting  at  each  other. 

On  the  morning  of  the  29th we  crossed  Stewarts  Creek  ann  resumed  the 

advance  to  I-.. mrfreesboro,  PalmerI s  division  again  leading,  and  the  skirmish(cid:173)

ing  grov{ing  heavier  and  hotter  as  we  Jrogressed.  At  night  we  were  within 

two  miles  of  Murfreesboro  and  had  driven  the  enemy  into  his  entrenchments. 

Thomas  and  McCook  had  also  advanced,  on  our  right,  meeting  constantly  in(cid:173)

creasing  opposition,  and  were  substantially  on  a  line  with  Crittenden's 

corps,  McCook  holding  the  extreme  right  and  Thomas  the  center. 

Iomen  our 

division  first  reached  the  entrenchments  of  the  enemy,  General  Pa]mer  thought 

that  they were  retiring  from  Murfreesboro,  and  so  reported  to  Rosencrans 

who  ordered  Crittenden  to  send  a  division  into  Murfreesboro;  and  Harkers 

brigade  actually  crossed  the  river,  and  drove  back  a  confederate  regiment 

UiJOn  their  main  line  in  confusion.  But  finding  that  the  enemy  was  in  force 

and  not  retreating,  the  idea  of  getting  into  I/turfreesboro  that  night  was 

given  up.  Harker  managed  to  withdraw  his  brigade  across  the  river  after 

dark  without  rrmch  loss.  The  river  is  a  small  and  shallow  affair,  easily 

fordable  at  almost  any  Doint. 

Our  line  of  battle  then,  some  three  and  on  half  miles  in  length,  was 

formed  with  Crittenden's  corps  upon  the  left,  across  the  Nashville  and  Mur(cid:173)

freesboro  pike  and  the  railroad,  its  left  resting  on  Stone  River,  '.'{hich  here 

ran  nearly  north  and  south,  but  bet,'reen  us  and  Murfreesboro  turned  to  the 

east.  Next  to  us  on  the  right  was  Thomas I  corps,  ano  on  his  right,  McCook. 

The  latter was  thus  the  extreme  right  of  our  lines.  Bragg's  line  of  battle 

and  entrenchments  were  some  five  hundred  yards  in  our  front.  Back  of  our 

line  were  some  open  fields  and  also  cedar  thickets,  through -Jolhich  it was 

extremely  difficult 

to  move  troops  in  any  order. 

Thus  "l'1e  lay doym  Monday  night  expecting  to  attack  the  enemy  in  the  morning. 

50 

I  do  not  recall  that  my 

sleep  was  at  all  broken,  though  I  lay upr:l1  the 

ground  in  a  single  blanket,  and  the  night  was  rather  chilly  'md  frosty. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  felt  any  particular  fear. 

l';ot  claiming  any  oarticular 

brand  of  courage,  I  think  I  felt  as  most  boys  felt,  resigned  and  somewhat 

indifferent;  an."'Cious  to  get  at  it  and  ret  it  over I'fith,  knmrine;  that  the 

only ~;Tay  to  cnd  the  war  vras  to  fight  and  defeat  the  enemy. 

At  arw  rate, 

I  slept  soundly,  as  only  a  tired  soldier  can  sleep. 

The  "'hole  of  the  next  day  was  spent  in  feeling  the  enemy  anel  getting 

into  position.  There  "ras  quite  a  lot  of  c8.n'lonading,  but  little  infantry 

firhtin,~:.  Early  in  the  morning  a  confederate  battery  opened  upon  us,  and 

I  recall  th2.t  about  its  first  shot  struck  one  of  our  men  in  the  thighs, 

shaving  off  the  entire  fleshy  part  as  though  with  a  knife.  The  flesh  of  the 

vwund  looked  ';rhUe,  the  force  evidently  having  backed  the::  blood.  Then  aftor 

a  little  the  blood  gushed  out.  He  lived  but  a  fe";  minutes. 

We 

'irere  under  this  sort  of  cannonading  all  day,  but  suffered  no  other 

fatalaties  in  our  battery.  We  reDlied  to  them,  of  course. 

I  had  alYra1Ts 

• .  

-

d 

heard  in my  youth  that  if a  cannon  ball ,;ras  rolling  UDon  the  f;round,  ho'.rever 

slowly,  th;jt  it 'Houlcl  take  off  one's  leg  if  in  the  way  of  it.  This  is  fiction. 

A  cannon  ball  shot  from;:)  CE'nnon  has  no  more  force  that  if  throvrn  from  the 

hand  at  the  same  rate  of  speed.  At  ::me  time  during  the  day we  werereply-

ing  to  a  b8.ttery  of  the  enemy,  and  a  young  fellow  by  the  name  of  Hauk,  was 

acting  as  number  t~,'ro  and  just  putting  a  shell  into  his  gun,'i'men  a  solid 

shot  came  rolling  along,  struck  Pauk  at  the  ankle  and  rolled  up  his  leg 

and  side,  and  he  caught  it  in  the  crook  of  his  arm.  Eauk  was  black  and  blue 

from  the  ankle  up,  b  ut  not  othe~7ise  injured. 

';'[e  lay da'm  again  'tuesday  to  wait  for  the  morrow.  The  next  day was  the 

last  of  the  year.  Many  did  not  see  the  sun  rise  on  IITe!'r  Year's  morning. 

',-Ie  were  up  before  davm  on  \~[ednesday morning  and  in  lines.  Rosencrans  plan 

of  battle  was  a  good  one  if  it  could  be  carried  out.  EcCook  on  the  right 

51 

~'ras  to  hold  thG  enemy  if  attacked;  but  if  not  attacked,  was  himself  to  on-' 

gage  the  enemy.  Thomas  in  the  center was  to  engav,e  the  enemy  in  his  front 

and  hold  him  V)  his yrork  there,  not  PGrmittiw,:  a  weakening  of  his  line. 

hllmcr  '[TaS  facing  the  cottonfiold,  and  '.'Ta.S  to  advance  when  the  opportune 

time  came.  All  of  Bragg's  aTIllY  was  on  the  same  side  of  the  river  as  our 

own  except  Breckinridge' s,  7Thich  division 'Jas  on  the  east  .side  of  the  river. 
VanCleve's  cl ivision,  followed  by  the  pioneer  brigade  and  ."'0 ad , s  division 

'Nere  to  crnss  the  river,  drive  Breckinridge  into  Hurfreesboro,  and  enfilade 

the  enemy' s  lines  in  front.  of  us  with  artillery,  upon  ':Thich  we  ',"{ere  to  ad(cid:173)

vance  and  double  him  up.  This  was  a  s91endid  plRn,  but,  flTh0  best  laid 

ulans  of  mice  and  men,  aft  gang  ar;lee." 

"1osencrans  plarn10d  to  turn  the 

confederate  10ft;  Brags  planned  to  turn  the  union  rig;'t. 

At  daybreak  VanCleve  began  to  cross  the  river  \Tith  his  division.  As  the 

second  Kentucky  regiment  oassed  by  us,  one  of  its  nW11ber  \TaS  eating  hard(cid:173)

tack  and  coffee  nut  of  a  quart  cup.  As  he  passed  us  he  remarked,  IIIf  I  go 

to  hell  tonight,  I  will  go  on  a  full  belly. II  Such  levity YTaS  not  common 

in  the  men  before  a  battle. 

'T'hey  were  usually  silent  and  reserved,  with  a 

look  of  resolution  and  sterness,  denoting  an  appreciation  of  the  danger, 

and  a  determination  to  face  it. 

I  have  al':rays  thour:ht  the  fellovr' s  courage 

of  the  "Dutch"  order,  and  that  he  trilJd  to  bolster  it up  by  a ,())arent  bravado. 

One  briQ.'ade  of  Van  Cleve's  had  nearly  crossed  the  river  and  'ire  stood  an(cid:173)

xiously waiting,  ,(ofhen  heavy  firing was  heard  upon  our  extreme  rir;ht,  pearly 

three  miles  distant.  The  sound  grew  louder  and  bacloard  and  nearer  to  us. 

7[e  knevr  that  our  ri;Y.ht  had  been  turned  and  that  McCook  was  being  driven. 

Our  advance  upon  our  left  depended  upon  FcCook  holdin::::  the  right.  The  din 

of  battle  upon  our  right  f~rRYr  louder  ann  nearer.  Our  right  vras  evidently 

routed. 

Instead  of  A..ttacking,  the  question  vras  one  of  defense.  Our  troops 

'.'rere  h8.stily  -'rithdrawn  from  across  tbe  river  and  a  new  line  formed  facj.ng 

east  at  right  angles  to  our  first  line. 

In  front  of  us  some  tvrclve  rods 

distant was  a  dense  c8car  thicket. 

(loon  throngh  this  began  t ,)  ap~lear  here 

52 

and  there  13.  riderless  horse;  here  and  there  a  flying  soldier.  Then  more 

and  m:)re,  till thousands  poured  through,  without  order  of  regimental  forma-

tion  of  any  kind. 

Bragg  had  captured  tvrenty-eight  pieoes  of  artillery and  many  prisoners. 

McCook  had  been  totally  routed,  Thomas  compelled  to  retire,  and  the  army 

driven  into  the  open  field  along,  am  parallel with,  the  pike  and  railroad. 

At  the  heels  of  our  men  came  the  enemy.  They  burst  out  of  the  cedars  some-

times  twenty  deep  in  front  of  us,  with  batt  le  flags  waving  and  vrith  loud 

"Rebel  yells. II  We  had  eight  guns.  Upon  our  right  and  left were  lines  of 

kneeling  infantry with  guns  ready. 

In  our  rear  the  84th  lllinois  Regiment 

supported  us.  Some  of  our  men  were  still bek,reen  us  and  the  enemy,  when, 

calling  upon  them  to  lie  do'tm,  we  openecJ  with  cannister  upon  the  confederate 

line,  or  masses.  A  continued  line  of  flame  ran  from  our  @J.ns.  The  enemy's 

line  wavered.  Great  gaps  appeared  where  :)ur  iron  hail  sw-ept  through.  The 

cedars  behind  them  were  stripped  and  rent  as  though  by  the  besome  of  des-

truction.  For  a  few  minutes  the  enemy  stood,  then  fell  back  into  the  thick-

ets  for  protection.  Thomas I s  and  McCook I s  troops  had  been  rallied  and  a 

new  line  formed  in  the  open  field  along  the  pike.  Here  for  hours  the  battle 

raged.  Rosencrans  was  everyw'here,  riding  along  the  lines,  exposing  himself 

with  perfect  disregard  of  danger.  A  shell,  grazing  the  side  of  R.osencrans, 

carried  off  the  head  of  G~resche,  his  chief  of  staff. 

And  now  the  enemy  advanced  across  the  cottonfield,  which  had  been  our 

front  that  morning.  Bullets  came  raininG  in  upon  our  left  and  almost  from 

the  rear.  A  part  of  our  line  had  remained  facing  the  cottonfield,  and  across 

the  pike  and  railroad.  Then  it turned  with  an  abrupt  angle  facing  the  right. 

It was  something  like  this: 

Pike 

Grove 

- , - OUr  Line 

Cotton  field 

- ---- --11 '- -
"..-
" 
Our" 
Line~ 
II 

" 

Ced,,,)r  Thickets 

The  Enemy 

S3 

The  star  represents  the  position  of  our  battery.  As  the  enemy,  recoiling 

from  our  front,  'were  pushed  back  into  the  cedars,  their  lines  ac::ross  the 

cottonfields  composed  of  Preckinridge I')  ann  iJither l  s  divisions  and  other 

troops  attacked  us  fro"1  that  direction.  Here  the  84th  illinois  that  suppor(cid:173)

ted  us  suffered  greatly.  One  could  walk  along  their  position  stepDing  upon 

dead  bodies.  Soon ,,'re  vrere  withdrmm  and  again  faced  the  cottonfield.  Here 

upon  our  left was  the  24th  Ohio.  The  attack  of  the  enemy  YifaS  insistant  and 

desparate.  Colonel  Jones  of  the  24th  Ohio  fell  dead,  shot  through  the 

heart.  Vajor  Terry,  plantinG  the  regimental  flag  about  five  paces  in  front 

of  the  line,  fell  shot  through  the  brain.  Only  three  line  officers  remained 

that  night  -wholly  untouched. 

We  first  directed  our  fire  up'ln  artillery  that .-ras  firing  upon  the  in(cid:173)

fantry  lines,  and  having  silenced  it,  turned  our  attention  to  their  infantry. 

The  battle  raged  here  for  a  long  time,  I  have  no  means  of  even  c;uessing 

how  long,  until  finally  the  enemy  was  repulsed.  Along  in  the  afternoon 

a  sJ isht  cessation  took  place  in  the  fighting.  Both  sides  vrere  exhausted 

from  their  tremendous  efforts.  The  victorious  advance  of  the  enemy  had 

been  arrested,  and  both  sides  naited  for  breath  to  continue  the  struggle. 

The  l,'ri ntry  air was  thick  wi th  smoke,  and  its  very  taste  vras  sulphurous. 

The  dead  and  wounded  lay thickly  evorYV'T~ere,  and  the  groans  of  the  latter 

yrere  pitiable  to  hear. 

Just  then  our  battery vras  sent  at  a  gallop  to  our  left  and  rear.  One 

of  our  field  hospitals  had  heen  established  near  a  tend  in the  river,  and  a 

brigade  of  confederate  cavalry  had  captured  it and  were  running  off  the 

wagons  with  our wounded.  Reaching  a  position  some  six  hundred  yards  from 

the  hospital,  we  at  once  began  a  rapid  she11ing  of  it.  The  enemy  retreated 

in  double  quick  time,  and  I  have  often wondered  if  our  she11s  did  not  end 

the  Dain  of  some  of  our  own  poor  1!TOUnd9d  men. 

,,'hi19  we  had  been  fighting  in  front,  the  confederate  cavalry  had  been 

54 

in  our  rear,  attacking  our  trains  and  menacing  our  conrrrrunications.  Their 

cavalry was  stronger  than  ours,  and  virtually WGre  in  our  rear  and  on  the 

Pashville  pike  during  the  battle.  Finally  night,  cold,  clear  and  comfort(cid:173)

less  settled  down  upon  the  field.  The  day  had  been  a  disasterous  one  for 

us.  Three  milGs  of  our  line  had  been  driven  back,  -oell  mell  upon  the  left, 

nearly  four  thousand  prisoners  and  twenty  eight  pieces  of  artillery taken. 

Bragg  telegraphed  to  Jefferson  durin p;  the  day  that  he  had  won  a  great  vic(cid:173)

t ory.  There  .. Tas  reason  for  this  boast,  premature  as  it  turned  out  to  be. 

On  the  little  chart  on  the  preceeding  nage,  extend  the  line  by  the  cotton(cid:173)

field  three  miles  to  the  right  and  it will  mark  the  position  of  our  lines 

in  the  morning.  The  lines  show  it  at  ten  0  'clock  that  forenoon.  Through 

that  three  miles  its  vroods,  thickets  and  fields  were  strevm  with  our  dead 

and  ~rrounded  and  the  debris  of:  flight,  the  enemy  being  in  possession.  Bragg 

miGht  :yell  wire  news  of  victory. 

But  at  night  the  Union  line  stood  at  bay,  resolute  and  defiant.  Troops 

that  }md  been  driven  from  the  field  early  in  the  morfline;,  had  met  am throw'n 

back  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and  the  cannon I s  mouth,  troops  victorious 

in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day. 

It  shows  the  staying  quality  of  the  northern 

man.  The  southerner  was  quicker  and  more  impetuous  in  the  onset,  but  lacked 

much  of  th8  dogged  determination  of  his  northern  brother.  The  disaster 

uoon  our  right  was  aPDalling,  and  seemed  to  threaten  the  destruction  of  our 

entire  army.  Major  General  George  Ho  Thomas  did  much  to  arrest  the  tide  of 
disastero  To  him  R.osencrans  turned  va th  confidence  and  trust.  Thomas  was 

an  inspiration  in  battle.  Tall  and  cO""lmanding,  c8.1m  and  composed,  he  rode 

the  lines  as  the  personification  of  victory.  General  George  Fenry  Thomas 

has  aL:ays  been  my  ideal  of  a  soldier. 

He  was  born  in30uthamton  County,  Virginia,  July  lf1l6.  He  graduated 

from  >Test  Poi.nt  in  1040  and  served  during  the  1,Iexican'iiar  and  vras  twice 

brevett  ed  for  gallantry.  At  the  olJ.thr2ak  of  the  war  hG  was  a  major  of 

the  ?nd  cavalry. 

robert  '-.;.  Lee  was  it s  lieutenant  colonel.  Lee  "las 

S5 

COJ1'l.l':ciS'3ioned  as  colon")]  of  I:,h e  regi17nnt  }/a.rch  16th,  JJ~61,  and  resigned 

April  ?Oth  follo' ~ing,  to  entel'  the  service  of  Virginia.  Thomas  remained 

true  to  the  government  that  had  educated  him.  Born  of  a  distinguished 

Virginia  family,  he  still felt  bound  by  the  oath  of  fidelity  that  he  had 

taken. 

It  is  said  of  him  that  when  he  decided  to  remain  with  the  Union, 

he  sent  to  Virginia  for  a  sword  that  had  been  given  him  for  service  in  the 

war with  Hexico.  He  did  not  get  the  sword,  but  his  sister  sent  him  word 

that  if he  would  come  after  it  in  person,  that  she  would  plunge  it through 

his  heart. 

It  seems  hardly  credible  that  family  affection  could  be  so  rent 

and  torn  by  political  differences,  but  rrmch  the  same  feelings  were  seen  in 

faJnilies  both  north  and  south.  Thomas  WnS  commissioned  a  brigidier  general, 

was  sent  to  Kentucky  and  kil1ed  and  defeated  Zollicofer  at  Iftills  Springs 

in  December,  1:161,  being  one  of  the  first  considerable  successes  of  the  l.'!ar. 

That  nip;ht  t fe  slept  upon  the  field  '.'Ti thout  covering. 

I  shall  Dever  for(cid:173)

get  that  nir;ht. 

I  slept  by  fits  and  starts,  but  my  ears  '-rere  filled  vri th 

the  roar  of  artillery. 

It  seemed  as  loud  as  it  had  all  day.  The  thunderous 

discharges  for  many  hours  had  so  affected  the  drLUns  of  my  ears,  that  they 

rang  with  the  sound  al]  night.  It's  a  ',vonder  that  more  men  do  not  becone 

deaf  throm:.h  such  a  trial. 

New  Years  dawned  cold  and  frosty.  Long  lines  of  our  dead  were  brought 

in  and  laid  side  by  side  preparatory  to  interring  them  in  long  trenches. 

They  lay  in  rO'irs  sometimes  t "ln  rods  in  length,  the  hoar  frost  upon  their 

stern  marble  faces.  Trenches  were  dug,  the  bodies  placed  in  them  and  very 

lightly  covered.  Such  is  the  grave  of  a  soldier. 

The  nip-ht  of  the  31st  all  the  spare  ammunition  had  been  issued  and  it 

was  found  that  there  was  enough  for  another  battle. 

'I"tTO  fresh  brigades 

that  had  been  guarding  the  rear  came  up,  and  it was  determined  to  continue 

the  fight  on  the  same  ground.  Bragg  expected  Rosencrans  to  retreat,  but 

Rosencrans'  remarks  upon  the  subject  showed  the  man. 

"Bragg  is  a  good  dog 

56 

but  Holdfast  is  a  better. II  So  we  held  fast.  There  was  not  much  heavy  fight(cid:173)

ing  on  the  1st.  A  heavy  cannonade  by  Bragg  in  the  forenoon  was  started  to 

ascertain whether 'Ire  were  yet  on  the  ground  in  force,  but  the  ret  urn  fire 

was  so  heavy  that  he  was  convinced  that  we  were  there.  Several  attacks  Vf9re 

made  upon  our  center,  but  '",ere  easily  reoulsed.  Skirmishing  vras  going  on 

constantly. 

During  the  aft~rnoon Bragg  began  to  mass  troops  under  Breckinridge  upon 

his  right,  and  Van  Cleave's  division  of  our  corps  was  oniered  across  the 

river  upon  a  small  eminence  to  vlatch  the  flank.  But  no  attack Vfas  made 

that  day. 

It began  to  rain  heavily  on  the  evening  of  the  1st,  a  cold,  miser(cid:173)

able  rain,  and  it was  anything  but  p] easant.  Friday  morning  it was  evident 

that  an  attack  was  intended  upon  our  left.  Our  artillery  to  the  number  of 

58  guns  ".'fas  concentrated  to  meet  it. 

l'Tegley' '3  division YJas  also  brought 

forward  to  the  bank  of  t  he  river,  Van  Cleave  being  across  it.  Soon  the 

attack  came.  Breckinridge  with  about  16,000  men  advanced  against  our  left. 

The  58  pieces  of  artillery at  once  commenced  to  roar,  but  Breckinridge  came 

through  the  storm  of  fire  and  swept  Van  Cleave  across  the  river.  Then  Neg(cid:173)

ley's  division  went  forvrard  with  a  cheer,  crossed  the  river  and  drove  Breck(cid:173)

inridge  back  in  panic  flight.  Three  pieces  of  artillery'!Tere  captured  and 

ab  out  1000  prisoners.  That  ended  the  battle  of  Stone  River. 

The  miseries  of  that  night  cannot  ",'{ell  be  described  or  imagined.  The 

night  ','las  pitch  dark,  the  rain  came  dO\'m  in  torrents,  the  mud  was  unfathom(cid:173)

able,  and  we  were  without  shelter  or  food.  Still ,,'[e  had  the  stimulus  of 

victory. 

I  recall  that  I  stumbled  upon  a  little  pen  of  rails. 

I  got  tyro 

togeth-or  on  top  and  lay  rlown  as  upon  a  bed  of  down. 

It  was  d ark  as  ink 

when  I  lay dovm  and  upon  aVff).kening  I  found  four  dead  Hebs  inside  the  pen. 

I  had  slept wi thin  less  than  two  feet  of  them.  But  my  sleep  was  unbroken, 

though  the  ·wintry  rain beat  upon  me  all  night.  You  may  imagine  f  rom  this 

something  of  the  dead  fatigue,  the  almost  utter  physical  collapse  after  a 

57 

day  of  strenuous  battle. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3rd  Bragg  ordered  a  constant  and  heavy  picket  of 

firing  kept  up  to  ascertain  if  our  army  was  still  there.  He  found  us  there. 

At  noon  he  decided  to  retreat  and  leave  us  in  pos~ession of  the  field. 

Generals  Cleburne  and  Withers  had  sent  in  a  despatch  stating  that  there  were 

but "three  brigades  that  are  at  all  reliable,  and  even  some  of  these  are 

more  or  less  demoralized  from  having  some  brigade  commanders  who  do  not 

DI)SS~SS  the  confidence  of  their  commands."  They  feared  great  disaster 

','Thich  could  only  be  avoided  by  retreat.  That  night  Bragg's  army  retreated. 

His  cavalry  covered  his  front  till Monday  when  ''-fe  entered  Murfreesboro. 

1.&  description  of  this  b2.ttle,  though  8.ccupying  more  space  that  perhaps 

it should  in  this  personal  history,  has  been  very  brief  and  meager.  Bragg's 

loss  was  about  10,000  men,  a  loss  of  20%  of  his  force.  Our  loss  was  11,578, 

or  ab  out  25%. 

It was  a  very  obstinate  and  bloody  battle,  and  is  considered 

one  of  the  most  hotly  contested  of  the  Yfar. 

We  remained  at  tiurfreesboro  nearly  six months,  while  the  army  was  re(cid:173)

cruited,  and  supplies  gathered,  and  the  cavalry,  espeCially,  strengthened 

and  disci]Jlined.  Yfe  had  been  woefully  lacking  in  the  cavalry  arm  of  the 

service,  and  Rosencrans  determined  to  strengther  this  arm  before  another 

advance.  Wilder's  Brigade,  the  same  Wilder  who  was  Ilra~)tured  at  Humfordville 

the  previous  September  (see  page  41),  noV{  c0mmanding  an  infantry brigade, 

was  mounted  as  cavalry  or  as  mounted  infantry,  and  performed  special  and 

distinp;uished  service  durinp;  the  vvar.  Minty's  brigade,  consisting  of  the 

Fourth  Hichigan,  Seventh  Penn.  and  Fourth  United  States  Cavalry made  a 

magnificent  record  during  the  next  two  years. 

-~-Jhile  vre  lay  at  Murfreesboro  the  battle  of  Chancellorville  had  been  fought, 

Hooker  defeated  and  driven  across  the  Rappahannock;  Grant had  ,"mited  and 

maneuv",red  before  Vicksburg,  had  finally  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  by 

a  campaisn  Napoleonic  in  its  audacity  had  defeated  an  army  much  larger  than 

58 

his  mm  a.nd  had  Pemberton  penned  up  in  Vicksburg.  Brage;  lay  at  Tul13homa  .' 

somo  ~ S miles  in  onr  front.  Falleck  had  c onsta. htty  insisted  th2.t  '?osonc rans 

should  advance,  but  he  refus'3d  till he  was  ready.  Halleck  sent  a  letter 

to  8.11  of  his  com..rnancling  Generals  promising  a  major  generalship  in  the  regu-

lar  army  to  the  first  one  that  YfOn  a  victory. 

It  is  said  th~t Grant  pocket-

ed  his  lGtter  and  said  nothing.  Rosencrans  replied  sayinc;  that  lias  a  man 

and  a  citizen  he  felt  degraded  at  such  an  auctioneering  of  honor, II  and  said, 

IIhave  v~e  a  general  who  w011ld  fight  for:his  oym  personal  benefit  when  he  1'rould 

not  for  his  honor  and  his  country?" 

liRe  '\'TOuld  come  by  his  commission  basely 

in  that  case,  and  deserve  to  be  desr,>ised  by  men  of  honor. !I 

Halleck  became  the  foe  of  Rosencrans  ever  after.  The  languae;e  of  '1'osen-

crans  may  have  been  injudicious,  but  it was  the  expression  of  an  honest  man. 

The  six months  spent  at  J.,:lurfreesboro  VTere  not  'wholly  a  period  of  inaction. 

The  army was  exhausted  and  depleted  by  the  tremendous  strugr::le  at  :Stone 

River,  and  time  YTas  needed  to  recruit  the  army,  or~anize the  cavalry  and 

UP 

brinp:,  supplies  and  material.  All  supplies  came  from  Louisville  and  Ila.3h-

-"!j 

ville,  and  this  line  ','laS '  constantly  raided  by  the  enemy  and  broken  in  many 

p18.ces.  This  was  done  by  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy,  moving  swiftly  from 

place  to  place,  anc'l  it  required  a  large  force  to  guard  the  ~"rhole  line. 

The  confederates  had  outnumbered  us  in  this  branch  of  the  service  nearly 

tvTO  to  one,  and  this  disparity  had  to  be  remedied.  During  the  entire  year 

from  ,July  1st,  lEl62  to  the  folIO-iring  ,July,  the  L. 

~:  N.  RR.  had  been  operated 

only  seven  months  2nd  twelve  days.  The  balance  of  the  time  it  had  been 

broken  by  the  enemy.  A  large  amount  of  supplies  had  to  be  gathered  before 

an  advRnce  could  be  made.  So  we  lay  at  Eurfreesboro  nearly  half  a  year. 

In  the  soring  of  1863  I  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  corooral  and  given 

a  commam  of  a  deta.chment.  This  was  properly  the  p'"lsition  of  a  sargeant, 

but  our  battery  non  consisted  of  six  guns  and  we  had  only  four  sergeants. 

While  "rith  Battery  H.  we  had  eight  guns,  but  that  battery  had  a  se9arate 

59 

organizat.ion  aft.er  the  battle  and  our  guns  wore  reduced  to  six.  My  promotion 

was  due  not  so  Much  to  any  particular  heroisM  u~on my  part,  as  to  the  facts 

that  I  rras  always  sober,  attended  to  duty  and  had  the  faculty  of  mastering 

the  intricacies  of  artillery drill. 

the  time  passed  very  easily  and  pleas(cid:173)

antly  for  us  during  the  t:irne  of  our  stay  there. 

ljfe  had  8uffici:mt  drilling 

tc  exercise  our  horses  and  men.  Arnone:  our  men  ','Tas  a  very  fair  lot  of  sing(cid:173)

ers,  and  in  the  evening  "iro  'would  gath8r  around  the  campfire  and.  listen  to 

patriotic  sonp,s.  During  this  p'3riod we  accupied  ,Sibley  tents.  These  are 

tall,  circular  tents,  and  the  feet  of  the  0ccupants  all  point  tOYTards  the 

center  pole. 

In  the  spring  vre  ~'Tere  introduced  to  "Pup  tents, II  as  the  sol(cid:173)

diers  called  them,  and  aften:,ards  there  vrere  no  other.  These  consisted 

of  tw')  pieces  of  cotton  cloth  ab()Ut  :S-ll?  feet  by  3  feet.  They  buttoned 

togeth8r  on  one  side  which  formed  the  ridge,  a..nd  upon  the  lower  bw  sides 

V.,8re  rOjes  for  tent  ,)ins.  Stretched  over  a  pole  a.nd  fastened  at  the  edr~es, 

they  formed  a  servicable  tent. 

:!:ach  man  had  one  piece,  and  the  ormer  of  the 

corresponding  piece  vms  his  bunkey.  Often  they nere  set  up  by  the  infantry 

by  setting  bra  muslwts  in  the  ground  by  the  bayonet  and  putting  another 

gun  across  for  the  pole. 

'l'hus  each  soldier  carried  his  ovm  house,  they 

were  a  fair  protection  from  the  elements,  and  easily transported. 

There  vrere  fH\.f  incidents  specially  interest.ing  or YiOrthy  of  mention. 

I  had  n0t  "-rritten  home  after  the  battle  for  some  months. 

It  did  not  occur 

to  me  that  my  sisters  might  be  anxiC1us. 

'They  say!  in  a  paper  after  the  battle 

th,g,t  one  George  Farr  had  been  killed. 

'('hey  supposed,  of  course,  that  I  Tras 

the  one  named,  and  they  mourned  me  a.s  on9  o.8ad.  Finally  I  wrote  to  my  Sister 

ra:r;r. 

"Then  she  took  the  letter  from  the  office,  I  am  to1d  that  she  ran 

thr-)ugh  the  streets  of  tlJe  village  cryinp:,  11j.,ily  brother  is  alive!  Hy  brother 

is  alive!" 

,':3uch  ar,3  the  heartbreaking  incidents  of  '.'mr. 

Here  I  saw  a  man  hung.  He  was  a  native  Tennes3ean,  tried  before  a  military 

court  for  mlJro.er  and  sentenced  to  be  hung. 

I  ha9pened  to  be  walking  outside 

60 

of  camp,  saV'[  a  cro'ird  in  a  field  and  approaching  found  the  men  standing  are>und 

a  gallows  consisting  of  two  posts  and  a  crosspiece  ~'lith  a  dangling  rope. 

Soon  a  w'hite  horse  and  cart  approached,  on  the  cart  a  plain  board  cofi':in 

with  the  murderer  seated  upon  it.  The  cart  was  driven  under  the  gallows, 

the  rope  adjusted,  prayers  Said  and  then  the  cC'.rt  was  slowly  driven  a1'my. 

It was  a  sickening  sif,ht  to  see  the  man,  as  finally  the  cart  Tf~S  driven 

mUJ,y,  fall  vdth  a  thud. 

I  had  seen  hundreds  fall  "rith  scarcely  a  quickening 

of  the  Dulse,  and  this  death  affected  me  more  than  all  of  them. 

';Ve  had  a  man  in  the  battery  named  Alexander.  He  had  been  in  the  regular 

army  for  about  thirty years.  Svery  tooth  had  been  lost.  The  onlY".IaY  he 

could  eat  his  rations  was  to  pound  the  harrltack  in  a  ca.nvas  bag  and  eat  it 

out  of  his  coffee  cup.  Bis  time  was  out  and  he  wanted  to  reenlist.  The 

officers vrould  not  reenlist  him,  but  '!ranted  him  to  go  to  the  Soldiers  Home 

at  Georgetovm  near  ~,;;ashington.  He  did  not  ''Jant  to  go.  One  day  he  wandered 

into  my  tent. 

I  was  lying  on  my  blanket.  My  belt,  o;rith  saber  and  revol(cid:173)

ver,  was  hanging  on  the  tent  pole. 

ITe  took  out  the  revoi'Ver  and  began  to 

examine  it,  of  v,Thich  I  thought  not h !ing.  Suddenly  he  fired.  The  first 

shot  missed. 

Immediately  he  fired  again  and  shot  himself  through  the  l~ad. 

We  laid  him  :in  a  forage  tent,  and  there  he  breathed  for  eighteen  hours  be(cid:173)

fore  dying.  He  could  not  speak  and  appeared  unconscious,  but  at  one  time 

he  motioned  for  his  pipe.  Someone  filled  and  lit it,  and  holding  it  to  his 

mouth,  he  smoked  for  a  little  time. 

It  seemed  like,  "The  ruling  passion 

strong  in death." 

Finally  on  the  24th  day  of  June  the  army  moved  out  of  Murfreesboro. 

Grant  .... ras  then  pounding  at  Pemberton  in Vicksburg.  Joseph~.  Johnston 'tras 

trying  to  gather  an  army  in  the  rear  of  Grant  to  attack  him.  Our  advance 

v{as  partly to  prevent  Bragg  from  sending  troo-ps  to  reinforce  Johnston,  but 

primarily  and  chiefly  for  the  ultimate  capture  of  Chattanooga,  a  place  that 

we  had  attempted  to  occupy  more  that  a  year  before,  but  had  been  prevented 

61 

by  the  incap~city of  HalJeck. 

(See  page  37). 

THE  TULLAHOrvtA  CAMPlI.IGN 

On  the  following  page  I  have  dravm  a  very  rough  sketch  of  the  territory 

aver  which  this  c2-mpaign  was  carried  on. 

((Grandfather  must  have  changed 

his  mind  about  the  drawing,  be~ause there  is  no  sketch  in  his  manuscript.  f)) 

We  had  no  sooner  left  Murfreesboro  than  the  rain  began  to  fall  in 

torrents.  Bragg  had  his  headquarters  at  Tullahoma,  with  Bishop  Polks 

corps  strongly  entrenched  at  Shelbyville.  This  town  was  noted  for  its 

str-:mg  Union  sentiment,  and  its  inhabitants  did  not  fare  very well  during 

~)olk' s  occupancy.  Hardee's  corps  was  near  Wartrace  and  there  was  a  line 

of  hins  covering  his  front  with  three  principal  gaps,  called  Liberty, 

H00ver  and  Bell  Buckle  Gaps. 

In  front  of  Polk  through  the  hills was 

Guys  Ga9.  Rosencrarls  plan  of  campaign was  to  turn  Braggs  right,  and  force 

him  to  come  out  of  his  entrenchments  and  fight  on  open  ground. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  the  advance  of  our  army.  Rain  fell  for 

eighteen  days.  The  roads  seemed  bottomless,  and  men,  horses  and  guns 

were  covered  with  mud.  At  one  time  in  passing  through  a  woods  road,  one 

of  the  horses  on  my  gun  caught  its  foot  in  a  root,  and  fell,  being  abso(cid:173)

lutely  submerged  in liquid mud. 

It was  horrible.  For  eighteen  days  we 

did  not  have  dry  clothing  or  blankets.  We  could  sleep  crouched  down  by 

tree  or  fence,  the  rain  beating  upon  us  meanwhile.  Fortunately,  the 

weather  was  warm. 

July  Fourth we  were  camped  in  a  wet  wheat  field,  when 

news  came  of  the  victory  at  Gettysburgh.  We  fired  one  hundred  rounds 

from  the  batt8ry  in  honor  of  the  day  and  the  victory.  The  provisions 

in  ~ur haversacks  beca~e a  wet  mass,  the  wagons  were  stalled  in  the  mud 

far  behind,  and  we  got  very  hungry,  indeed. 

Bragg  ViaS  maneuvered  out  of  his  entrenchments  without  serious  fight(cid:173)

ing  and  fell  back  to  Chattanooga. 

We  camped  at  Manchester,  Tenn.  about  July  lOth  and  remained  there  till 

62 

the  sixteenth  of  August.  Here  on  the  27th  day  of  July  I  saw  my  21st 

birthday.  We  set  up  posts  and  made  a  long  bow'er  covered  with  brush  to 

protect  us  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  here  we  rested  and  recruited 

our  strength  for  the  coming  struggle  for  Chattanooga.  The  railroad was 

repaired  to  Stevenson,  and  the  right  of  the  army  advanced  to  that  place. 

Between  usand  that  city was  the  steep  range  of  the  Cumberlands  and  a 

"\','"ide,  deep  river,  the  Tennessee.  We  were  then  perhaps  about  seventy-five 

miles  from  the  object  of  our  quest.  The  problem  of  crossing  this  river 

in  the  face  of  an  opposing  armyrras  a  difficult  one,  indeed.  A  success(cid:173)

ful  passage  of  the  river  depended  upon  concealing  the  real  point  of  cross(cid:173)

ing.  Bragg  eX9Gcted  that  Rosencrans  would  attempt  this  crossing  above 

Chattanooga.  Rosencrans  determined  to  cross  beJow. 

A  force  was  sent  above  and  feintsd  a  crossing  in  strong  force.  But 

this was  only  a  l)lind.  Our  corps  was  the  left wing  of  the  army,  and 

August  16th we  left  camp  and  by  long  and  hard  marches,  over  roads  almost 

im1Jassable,  we  ascended  the  Cumberland  Range.  Passing  a10ng  the  SlL"illIlit 

of  this  range  for  a  considerable  distance,  we  finally  descended  down  a 

long  and  frightful  gap  into  -Sequatchie  Valley.  Betw'eon  this  vaney  a.Tld 

Chattanooga  lay Waldens  "Ridge,  about  twenty  miles  wide  and  almost  im9ass(cid:173)

ible.  This  valley  is  about  forty  miles  in  length,  very  fertile  and  at 

its mouth  '.'ras  the  little  village  of  Jasper,  near  the  Tennessee  River  and 

SJm8  thirty-five  miles  below  Cha,ttanooga.  After  resting  for  a  couple 

of  cleWS  we  marched  down  tho  valley  to  its  mouth  and  soon  Were  upon  the 

banks  of  the  Tmmessee.  This  river was  here  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 

in  width  and  unfordable.  The  problem  was  nOll.,  to  cross.  Bragg  was  ex(cid:173)

pecting  us  above  the  city.  The  movement  of  our  corps, (Crittenden' s), 

across  the  mountains  and  into  Sequatchie  Valley  had  been  a  feint,  Bragg 

exop,cting  us  to  attempt  a  crossing  there  instead  of  below. 

The  army  crossed  the  river  in  various  ways,  part by  a  pontoon,  a  large 

63 

number  on  rafts  and  boats  picked  up  along  the  river.  Our  guns  were  taken 

across  on  a  raft.  We  found  an  old  canoe,  and  our  horses  were  taken  over 

by  swimming,  one  man  paddling  the  canoe,  and  one  sitting  in  the  stern, 

holding  two  swimming  horses  by halters.  We  all  safely crossed  without 

any  serious  opoosition  from  the  enemy.  Here  we  were  on  the  same  side  of 

the  river  as  the  enemy,  and  about  thirty-five  mUes  from  the  objective 

ooint,  Chattanooga.  The  crossing was  commenced  August  29th  and  completed 

Sr:ypt8mber  4th. 

McCook's  corps,  the  20th,  moved  to  the  right  across  Sand  Mountain, 

and  the  head  of  his  column  reached  Alpine  some  forty-five  miles  from  Chat(cid:173)

tanooga.  Thomas's  corps,  the  liLth,  moved  across  between  McCook  and  Chatta(cid:173)

nooga  and  the  head  of  his  column  was  at  McLemores  Cove,  about  twenty  miles 

fr')m  Chattanooga.  Our  corps,  Crittenden's,  was  ordered  to  move  directly 

on  Chattanooga  up  the  river.  To  make  these  movements  a  little  clearer, 

I  will  draw  a  rough  sketch,  a  very  rough  and  inadequate  sketch  of  the 

territory  over which we  moved.  We  moved  cautiously up  the  river,  and  on 

September  ninth,  passed  under  the  brow  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Chattanooga 

loW  beneath  us.  Our  advance  was  nf)t  contested.  On  the  seventh  Bragg  had 

left  Chattanooga with  his  army.  He  had  fallen  back  to  Fayette,  Georgia. 

Here  he  received  reinforcemAnts  of  ten  thousand  men  from  Johnston's  army 

in  Mississippi,  and  Longstreet's  corps  was  ordered  to  join him  from  Vir(cid:173)

gi.nia.  Rosencrans  and  the  Government  at Washington  thought  that  Bragg 

was  in wild  flight,  and  orders  were  given  to  pursue  him  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

One  of  our  divisions  was  left  at  Chattanooga  and  with  two  others  we  pushed 

on  after  Bragg.  No  one  knew  where  he  was,  and  for  several  days  we  wandered 

around  looking  for  something.  And  never were  we  in  greater  danger  of  de(cid:173)

struction  than  for  the  following  few  days.  Here  was  the  situation.  Bragg 

was  at  Lafayette  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Chattanooga,  "rith  an  army 

about  as  large  as  our  own  and  rapidly  receiving  reinforcements.  Men  claiming 

64 

to  be  deserters  from  the  Confederate  army  came  into  our  lines  and  informed' 

us  that  Bragg  was  retreating  in wild  confusion.  They  were  sent  by  Bragg. 

His  intentions were  to  gather  force  enough  to  fight  and  defeat  us  and  cap(cid:173)

ture  and  de stroy  our  army. 

Never  was  a  commander  offered  a  better opportunity.  Our  army  was  scatter(cid:173)

ed,  McCook  45  miles  away,  and  farther  south  than  Bragg;  Thomas  near  McLe(cid:173)

more  Cove,  separated  by  about  25  miles  from  McCook,  and  we  under  Crittenden 

wandering  around  near  Ringgold,  miles  away  from  Thomas,  and  all  ignorant 

of  Bragg's  whereabouts.  Bragg  did  give  orders  to  attack  and  crush  Critten(cid:173)

dnn,  but  his  subordinates  failedhlm.  He  also  tried  to  wipe  out  Thomas's 

Corps,  but  again  the  generals  he  sent  to  do  the  job  did  not  get  together. 

A combined  attack  of  the  Confederate  army  upon  us  could  not  have  failed  to 

bring  disaster.  These  attacks,  however,  had  the  effect  of  convincing  Rosen(cid:173)

crans  that  Bragg was  not  in  retreat,  but was  in  force  and  near  at  hand. 

The  question was  then whether  the  army  could  be  got  together  in  time  to 

meet  Bragg's  attack. 

There  was  a  road  called  the  Lafayette  Road,  leading  from  Chattanooga  to 

LaFayette.  This  roan  crossed  Chickamauga  Creek  at  Lee  and  Gordons  Mill, 

and  then  ran  northerly  through  Rossville  Gap  in  Missionary  R.idge  to  Chatta(cid:173)

nooga.  On  the  17th we  fell  back  across  Chickamauga  Creek  at  Lee  and  Gordons 

'Mill.  McCook's  Corps  contmenced  falling  back,  hastily marching  day  and  night 

to  reach  our  position.  On  the  evening  of  the  17th  Thomas  had  closed  up  on 

our  right  and  McCook  had  reached  the  right  of  Thomas.  Bragg  was  in  position 

on  the  other  siele  of  the  Creek,  and  intended  on  the  18th  to  force  a  crossing 

at  Reeds  and  Alexanders  Bridges,  reach  the  LaFayette  'Road  ann  cut  us  off 

from  Chattanooga,  force  us  back  against  the  mountain  and  destroy  us. 

Our  army  was  about  55,000  strong.  The  Confederate  army,  reinforced  by 

11,000  men  from  Johnson's  army  and  Longstreet's  Corps  from Wirginia,  came 

to  about  70,000  men.  Perhaps  it might  be  a  matter  of  historical  interest 

65 

to  give  a  detailed  statement  of  the  two  armies  at  this  time. 

The  Union  army  consisted  of  139  regiments  of  infantry,  18  of  cavalry 

and  34  batteries  of  artillery,  besides  three  sections  of  artillery consisting 

of  six  guns  with  the  cavalry. 

Fourteenth  Army  Corps. 

Major  General  George  H.  Thomas. 

Provost  Guard,  Ninth  Michigan  Infantry. 

First  Division 

Brigadier  G8neral  Absolom  Baird. 

First  Brigade. 

Commanded  by  Colonel  Benjamin  F.  Scribner. 

38th  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Col.  Daniel  F.  Griffin. 

2nd  Ohio,  Lieutenant  Col.  Obadiah  C.  Maxwell. 

33rd  Ohio,  Colonel  Oscar  F.  Moore. 

94th  Ohio,  Major  Rue  P.  Hutchins. 

lOth Wisconsin,  Lieutenant  Col.  John  H.  Ely. 

Battery A First  Michigan  Light  Artillery,  Lieutenant  George  W.  Van  Pelt. 

Second  Brigade. 

Brigadier  General  John  C.  Starkweather. 

24th  nlinois,  Colonel  Geza  Mithalotzy. 

79th  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Henry  A.  Hambright. 

1st Wisconsin,  Lieutenant  Colonel  George  H.  Bingham. 

21st  Wisconsin,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harrison  C.  Hobart. 

Fourth  Indiana  Battery,  Lieutenant  David  Flansburg. 

Third  Brigade. 

Brigadier  General  John  H.  King. 

15th  U.S.  Inf.  First  Battallion,  Ca9tain  John  B.  Dodd. 

16th  U.S.  Inf.  First  Battallion,  Major  Sydney  Cooledge. 

18th  U.S.  Inf.  First  Battallion,  Captain  Henry  Haymond. 

19th  U.S.  Inf.  First  Battallion,  Major  Sa,nro.el  K.  Dawson. 

66 

Battery  H.  Fifth  U.S.  Artillery,  Lieutenant  Howard  M.  Burnham. 

Second  Division 

First  Brigade. 

Brigadier  General  John  Beatty. 

l04th  Illinois,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Douglas  Hapeman. 

42nd  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Colonel  William  T.  B.  McIntire. 

88th  Indiana,  Colonel  George  Humphrey. 

15th  Kentucky,  Colonel  Marion  C.  Taylor. 

Bridges  Batter,y,  (Illinois)  Captain  Lyman  Bridges. 

Second  Brigade. 

Colonel  Timothy  R.  Stanley. 

19th  Illinois,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Alexander  W.  Haffen. 

11th  Michigan,  Colonel  William  L.  Stoughton. 

18th  Ohio,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Charles  H.  Grovenor. 

Battery M.  First  Ohio  Light  Artillery,  Captain  Frederick  Schultz. 

Third  Brigade 

Colonel  William  Sirwell. 

37th  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Colonel  D.  Ward. 

21st  Ohio,  Lieutenant  Colonel  mella M.  Stoughton. 

74th  Ohio,  Captain  Joseph  Fisher. 

78th  Pennsylvania,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Archibald  Blakeley.