A Battery at Close garters 
 
 A Paper 
 
 READ BEFORE THE OHIO COMMANDBRY 
 OP THE LOYAL LEGION 
 
 October 6, igog 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY M. NEIL 
 
 Captain Twenly-secon<!l Ohio Battery 
 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO 
 
 1909 
 

 •//^■'7 E 
 
 ^-^; 
 
 THC CHAMPI.IN PRESS 
 COI-UMBUS, OHIO 
 
 IN EXCHANGE 
 
 JAN 5 - 1^15 
 
NS 
 
 A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 
 
 Being the Story of the Eleventh Ohio Bat- 
 tery AT lUKA AND CORINTH. 
 
 During the Civil War artillery projectiles 
 were divided as to structure into solid, hollow and 
 case shot. The solid shot were intended to batter 
 down walls or heavy obstructions. Hollow pro- 
 jectiles, called shell and shrapnel, were for use 
 against animate objects; to set fire to buildings 
 and destroy lighter obstructions. Under the 
 head of case shot we had grape and canister. 
 Grape shot is no longer used; being superseded 
 by the machine gun. Canister is simply a sheet 
 iron case filled with bullets and is effective only 
 at very sliort ranges. 
 
 The foremost European military writer, Ho- 
 henloe, states that in the Franco-Prussian war, 
 the batteries of the Prussian Guard expended 
 about twenty-five thousand shells and one can- 
 ister, and that this one canister was broken in 
 transport. 
 
In the official reports of the recent Russo- 
 Japanese War we find that the Arisaka gun, 
 which was the Japanese field piece, has a range 
 of 6,600 meters. The Russian field pieces were 
 said to give good results at 8,000 meters, or five 
 miles. The Japanese, and later the Russians, 
 made a great feature of indirect fire. Having lo- 
 cated a mass of the enemy, probably beyond two 
 ranges of hills, they would stake out a line in- 
 dicating the direction, then secure the range by 
 the use of shells which gave out a yellowish vapor 
 on bursting. This vapor being observed and 
 signaled by scouts also indicated the necessary 
 angles of departure from the line of stakes and 
 enabled the artillerymen, miles away from actual 
 contact, to complacently try experiments in bat- 
 tle ballistics with very little fear of being inter- 
 rupted by an enemy. 
 
 The range of modern field artillery being of- 
 ficially reported at five miles, permit me to take 
 you back to a day, over forty-seven years ago, 
 when an Ohio battery, placed in the extreme 
 front of battle, fought at less than fifty yards. 
 
 The village of luka lies in the northeast cor- 
 ner of the State of Mississippi. The neighboring 
 country is broken and, in 1862, was covered with 
 forests. Northwesterly from luka lies the vil- 
 lage of Burnsville and further on the little city 
 of Corinth, close to the Tennessee line. In 1862 
 
Corinth possessed strategical advantages which 
 caused it to become a large supply depot for the 
 Federal armies. South of Corinth and south- 
 west of luka, the town of Jacinto was located. 
 
 On the eighteenth of September, 1862, Gen- 
 eral Sterling Price lay at luka with an army of 
 about twenty thousand Confederates. General 
 E. O. G. Ord's force lay between Burnsville and 
 Corinth and had just been reinforced by Ross's 
 division. Burnsville was seven miles from luka. 
 General Rosecrans lay at Jacinto, nineteen and 
 one-half miles from luka. 
 
 General Grant, taking advantage of this sit- 
 uation, ordered a combined attack by Ord and 
 Rosecrans upon General Price. Under this or- 
 der Rosecrans moved from Jacinto at 3:00 A. 
 M. September 19th, and was within sitriking 
 distance of Price's patrols by noon. Ord was 
 to attack from the west and draw Price in that 
 direction while Rosecrans was to move to the 
 rebel rear by the Jacinto and Fulton roads and 
 cut off their retreat. Neither of these Union 
 armies was powerful enough to make, alone, a 
 successful attack upon Price. 
 
 The strategical plan of attack above outlined 
 was not carried out. Ord's strategy never reach- 
 ed the domain of tactics, for he went into camp 
 seven miles west of luka and the head of Rose- 
 crans' column was attacked by the entire army 
 
of Price. It was with the head of this column 
 that the Eleventh Ohio Battery marched into the 
 fight. Anticipating a combined engagement the 
 head of the colunm pushed its innocent way into 
 the maw of the entire rebel arm3^ We had to 
 fight first and think afterward. Price had hours 
 to choose his positions and, incidentally, he chose 
 our position also. We didn't have time to change 
 it. 
 
 ' ' Rapidity of movement and surprise are the 
 life and soul of the strategical offensive." That 
 maxim reads well but, in practice, it is important 
 to provide against being surprised by the other 
 fellow before you spring j^our surprise on him. 
 
 For several miles in the afternoon of the 
 19th of September the advance of Rosecrans' 
 column was warmly contested. The enemy's 
 sharp-shooters occupied every point of vantage, 
 making the last five miles a steady contest. The 
 cavalry had long ago been driven in. A few 
 companies formed an advance skirmish line only 
 a short distance from the main colunm. Near 
 the front of the column marched the Eleventh 
 Ohio Battery. The men knew that an engage- 
 ment was imminent but their immediate front 
 was unknown and unexplored. As usual, we had 
 no maps. While marching through a defile at 
 the crest of a thickly wooded hill we noticed 
 that the rifle fire in front was suddenly increased. 
 
But there was no pause to reconnoiter. The bat- 
 tery marched from the defile into within short 
 range of Price's whole army. Instantly an en- 
 tire rebel division concentrated its fire on the 
 batter}^ with the intention of annihilating it be' 
 fore it could unlimber. 
 
 As we emerged from the cut this sudden con- 
 centration of rifle fire gave me the impression of 
 being in a violent hail storm. Riding at the 
 head of the column I turned my head to look 
 for the men, expecting to see half the men and 
 horses down. To my great joy I found all unin- 
 jured. The storm of bullets was passing just 
 over our heads. We hastened to get into posi- 
 tion and unlimber before they could get the 
 range. Just in front of us the road turned to 
 the right. We turned to the right into the brush 
 and took position facing this road. As our men 
 were clearing the hazel brush for positions for 
 their guns a Wisconsin battery appeared about 
 three or four hundred yards to our left and un- 
 limbered; but it suddenly limbered up and gal- 
 loped to the rear without having fired a shot. It 
 had been ordered back, leaving the Eleventh the 
 only Union battery in the battle. 
 
 The Fifth Iowa took position just at our 
 right. The Twenty-sixth Missouri prolonged the 
 line to the right of the Fifth Iowa. On our left 
 the Forty-eighth Indiana formed a line that 
 
swung somewhat forward at its left flank. Our 
 side of the fight began with these three regiments 
 in position. The front thus hastil}^ formed did 
 not permit of further extension, owing to the 
 nature of the ground. 
 
 A little later the Fourth Minnesota and Six- 
 teenth Iowa were, respectively, echeloned in rear 
 of the left and right flanks. The total force ac- 
 tually engaged was 2800 Union and 11,000 Con- 
 federates. 
 
 When the Eleventh went into position Lieu- 
 tenant Sears Avas in command. As junior First 
 Lieutenant, I had the right section, while Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant Alger fought the center section. 
 Of the acting Second Lieutenants Perrine had 
 the left section and Bauer the line of caissons. 
 During the fight I succeeded to the command 
 when Sears went to the rear with a woimd. Al- 
 ger was captured. Bauer was killed. 
 
 The battery had taken position in line from 
 column under an infantry fire from an entire 
 division at ranges of from 200 to 400 yards. 
 Shells from the rebel artillery were also crash- 
 ing through our line. We opened fire at first 
 with shell. This shell fire proved so effective 
 that a rebel assault on the battery was ordered. 
 A division of Price's army rushed to the charge. 
 The battery changed from shell to double charges 
 of canister. The effect of the canister was ter- 
 
ribly increased because of the rebel method of 
 charging in masses. Had the line to the left of 
 the battery held its front the assault on the bat- 
 tery would have been impossible of success. But 
 Col. Eddy of the 48th Indiana was killed and the 
 survivors of his regiment were swept back by 
 overwhelming numbers. The left flank of the 
 battery was thus left bare and unsupported. On 
 the right the Fifth Iowa was cut to pieces. Only 
 eleven officers and a handful of men remained. 
 With the line melted away the battery found 
 itself facing in three directions and battling with 
 masses on three fronts. It had a rear but no 
 flanks. The guns were being worked with great- 
 er speed and smaller crews. Cannoneers were 
 falling. Other cannoneers coolly took their 
 places and performed double duty. Drivers left 
 their dead horses and took the places of dead or 
 wounded comrades, only to be struck down in 
 turn. Of eighty horses only three remained 
 standing and a withdrawal of the guns was im- 
 possible. The surviving men were too few to 
 do more than work the guns. Finally the charg- 
 ing hordes, checked and mutilated again and 
 again in front, to right and to left, pressed close. 
 Eight thousand men against two score. On the 
 fifth charge the survivors were finally choked 
 from the guns they would not abandon. 
 
General Rosecrans in his notice, in orders, of 
 the facts and results of the battle of luka, states 
 that the Eleventh Ohio Battery participated: 
 
 ** Under circumstances of danger and 
 exposure such as rarely, perhaps never, 
 have fallen to the lot of one single battery 
 during this war." 
 
 In the same order the commanding General 
 further states: 
 
 "On a narrow front, intersected by 
 ravines and covered with dense under- 
 growth, with a single battery, Hamilton's 
 division went into action against the com- 
 bined rebel hosts. On that unequal 
 ground, which permitted the enemy to 
 outnumber them three to one, they fought 
 a glorious battle, mowing down the rebel 
 hordes until, night closing in, they rested 
 on their arms on the ground, from which 
 the enemy retired during the night, leav- 
 ing us masters of the field." 
 
 General Hamilton's official report, in describ- 
 ing the action of the Union left flank, states : 
 
 10 
 
*' Colonel Sanborn, in command of the 
 first brigade, most gallantly held the left 
 in position until, under a desolating car- 
 nage of musketry and canister, the brave 
 Eddy was cut down, and his regiment, 
 borne down by five times their numbers, 
 fell back in some disorder on the Eigh- 
 tieth Ohio, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bar- 
 tilson. The falling back of the Forty- 
 eighth exposed the battery. As the masses 
 of the enemy advanced the battery opened 
 with canister at short range, mowing down 
 the rebels by scores, until, with every of- 
 ficer killed or Avounded and nearl}^ every 
 man and horse killed or disabled, it fell 
 an easy prey. But this success was short 
 lived. 
 
 ''The hero Sullivan rallied a portion of 
 the right wing, and, with a bravery better 
 characterized as audacity, drove the reb- 
 els back to cover. Again they rallied and 
 again the battery fell into their hands; 
 but with the wavering fortunes of this 
 desperate fight the battery again fell into 
 our hands, and with three of its guns 
 spiked and the carriages cut and splin- 
 tered with balls, it is again ready to meet 
 the foe." 
 
 11 
 
At the close of the engagement the ground in 
 front of the battery showed heaps of dead 
 bodies. Statistics show that the Confederates' 
 loss in this engagement amounted to eight hun- 
 dred in killed and wounded. While actual in- 
 spection of the field of carnage indicated that 
 a large proportion of the slain had met their 
 death from the canister of the Eleventh. The 
 Brigade Commander's report states that the 
 battery fired with great rapidity and extraor- 
 dinary accuracy. 
 
 The battery entered the fight with ninety- 
 seven men and five officers, commissioned and 
 acting. Of these, eighteen were killed and thir- 
 ty-nine wounded, many mortally. A number of 
 the wounded had been bayoneted at their guns. 
 Of the cannoneers alone, forty-six were killed 
 or wounded. Forty-six out of a total of fifty- 
 four. More than five men out of every six. 
 
 The statistics compiled by Col. Fox in his 
 '^Regimental Losses in the American Civil 
 War," show that this day's record in killed and 
 mortally wounded equaled, within one, the total 
 killed in any light battery during its entire term 
 of service. This work also states that the losses 
 of the Eleventh at luka were 22% greater than 
 those sustained by any other light battery in 
 any one engagement during the war. 
 
 12 
 
You have been familiar with death and 
 wounds and the aching pain of deep sympathy 
 for suffering comrades. Therefore I will not 
 depict the tortures and individual heroisms of 
 those artillerymen who fell, to die or partly re- 
 cover. Those who died left a legacy of glory 
 and honor to posterity and to their country. 
 That legacy is of greater value than the greatest 
 riches, for it will always endure, and the martyrs 
 of the civil war, the dead and the living, will 
 proudly bear to the throne of God those scars 
 which were the price of their country's salva- 
 tion. 
 
 One singular feature of this fight was that 
 but two members of the battery were taken pris- 
 oners. The guns were captured and recaptured 
 several times before dark. The battery men 
 had never abandoned them voluntarily. One 
 Confederate prisoner afterward said: 
 
 ** Those battery boys had so much 
 spunk that we took pity on a few who 
 were left." 
 
 It may have been this respect for the courage 
 of the artillerymen which induced the Confed- 
 erates to let the few survivors go. But could 
 they have looked into the future and seen these 
 same men and gims at Corinth only fourteen 
 
 13 
 
days later, they would probably have dropped 
 every other work and secured them while they 
 had this one chance. 
 
 After attending to the wounded, the night 
 after the fight at luka, all members of the bat- 
 tery were ordered to a rendezvous. They were 
 all assembled by 5 A. M. and, after reverenth' 
 burying our dead, the men turned their attention 
 to securing the guns and equipments scattered 
 over the field. The drivers cried softly as they 
 removed the harness from their faithful mounts. 
 In one mass lay eighteen dead horses. These three 
 teams, instead of trying to escape, had swung 
 together and died together. My own horse re- 
 ceived seven woimds. Toward the close of the 
 engagement he sank down and was left for 
 dead. Some time during the night he revived 
 and was found by an officer of Rosecrans' staff 
 who rode him until daylight. This horse survived 
 the war two years, then suddenly dropped dead 
 in his stall. A bullet had finally worked its way 
 into an artery. 
 
 Of the other three surviving horses one had 
 an interesting history. He was a fine strong bay 
 who always worked as near leader. At our first 
 battle. New Madrid, this horse's rider was lit- 
 terally cut in two by a thirty-two pound ball. 
 The horse kept his place, covered with the blood 
 of poor James Bibby. After this baptism he 
 
 14 
 
seemed to bear a charmed life. He was mustered 
 out with the battery, still able to do full duty. 
 
 Early in the morning after the battle Gen- 
 eral Rosecrans ordered me to refit the battery 
 as rapidly as possible. After the guns' spikes 
 were removed the pieces were found to be in 
 serviceable order and work on the splintered 
 carriages was begun. 
 
 A description of our six guns may be of in- 
 terest. They were: 
 
 2 rifled 6 pounders, bronze, (James 
 pattern), (calibre 3.67, weight of ball, 14 
 lbs.) 
 
 2 smooth bore 6 pounders, (calibre 
 3.67, weight of ball, 14 lbs.) 
 
 2 twelve pounder Howitzers, (calibre 
 4.62.) 
 
 These guns would soon be needed again, for 
 General Rosecrans had promised us more work 
 in the near future at Corinth. In this emergency 
 I was allowed to draw horses and equipment 
 from the nearest available sources without reg- 
 ular requisition. General Rosecrans' foresight 
 in stretching regulations further permitted me 
 to obtain recruits from my brigade commander, 
 and the rejuvenation of the Eleventh was soon 
 
 15 
 
under way. The new men were drilled as hard 
 as their other duties permitted. The battery was 
 ready for the march to Corinth by the evening 
 of October 1st. 
 
 General Rosecrans had left orders with Col- 
 onel Crocker, who was left in command at luka, 
 to furnish the Eleventh with an escort to Cor- 
 inth. On the evening of October first I found 
 that an escort could not be secured for two or 
 three days, as Colonel Crocker had onlj^ enough 
 men present for guard and picket duty. 
 
 My orders were to report at Corinth as soon 
 as possible. The news from there indicated that 
 a big battle was imminent. It also indicated 
 that the Eleventh ran some risk of capture if it 
 went through alone. But there was no way to 
 avoid that risk. I therefore drew some extra 
 horses, sent mounted cannoneers forward as an 
 advance guard, and started for Corinth on the 
 morning of October second. I felt very uneasy 
 at starting on that march for I knew that, if I 
 met one of the numerous strong bands of guerril- 
 las or a Confederate force, I might be shot up 
 first and court-martialed afterward. 
 
 Nothing unusual happened during the daj^'s 
 march. By four P. M. we were inside our own 
 lines and a little later the battery was assigned 
 to a strange brigade. By the morning of Oc- 
 tober third I managed to secure an order sending 
 
 16 
 
us to our old brigade. It looked much smaller 
 than before luka but that made us think all the 
 more of it. 
 
 After the failure of his Napoleonic tactics at 
 luka, General Price retreated to Ripley, Mis- 
 sissippi, where he united with a still stronger 
 rebel force, under General Van Dorn. Van Dorn 
 assumed command of the united forces and 
 pushed forward toward Corinth with intent to 
 overwhelm Rosecrans. 
 
 Corinth w^as surrounded by extensive works 
 constructed by Beauregard when he held that 
 position against Halleck's army. Rosecrans had 
 too few troops to man these works but had taken 
 the precaution to hastily construct an inner line 
 of fortifications, which was traced about a mile 
 west from the center of the village. 
 
 The cavalry had promptly notified Rosecrans 
 of the formidable rebel movement northward 
 and he had hurriedly prepared to receive it. 
 About 10 A. M. on October third we moved from 
 our camp east of Corinth, marching through the 
 town to a designated point at the right of the 
 Federal lines. These lines occupied the outer 
 line of works built by Beauregard. 
 
 At about 2 P. M. we received the order to fall 
 back to the new line, nearer Corinth. In execut- 
 ing this movement I saw several heavy columns 
 of rebels approaching, en route with the same ob- 
 
 17 
 
jective. It looked for a time as if we might be 
 surromided, but nothing resulted except a few 
 singing bullets which did no harm. It was evi- 
 dent that the rebels felt that we were in a trap 
 and they were pursuing a prearranged plan in 
 springing it. As we reached the northwestern 
 suburb of Corinth we swung to the left and con- 
 tinued until we reached the right wing of the new 
 line, where we selected a fine position on rising 
 ground with a clear field of fire and a magnificent 
 view. 
 
 The new defensive line of which we had just 
 formed a part, presented a concave front to Van 
 Dorn's army. Our elevated position enabled the 
 batterymen to see both lines of battle. Being at 
 the Federal right flank we became one of the 
 horns of the dilemma which confronted Van- 
 Dorn's hosts the next day. 
 
 Van Dorn's magnificent series of assaults' 
 against our line began about 9 :30 the next morn- 
 ing. The masses of the enemy first attacked our 
 left flank and were repulsed. Then thej^ assailed 
 our center, penetrated it, but were at length 
 driven back into the cross fire of our artillery. 
 
 By 2 P. M. the attacks against the left and 
 center had exhausted themselves and the peril of 
 a broken center was narrowly averted. Then the 
 rebels, having concentrated for another supreme 
 effort, bore down upon Hamilton's division on 
 
 18 
 
the right. This was good tactics, because our 
 right had been weakened by sending troops to 
 the imperilled center. 
 
 The now familiar sight of masses of rebels, 
 screaming the familiar yell, appeared in our 
 front. As the mass approached I recognized 
 them and called to the men: '^Boys, there are 
 the same troops that fought us at luka ; are you 
 going to let them touch our guns today?" The 
 yell of rage that went up was more ominous than 
 a rebel yell ever tried to be. 
 
 At six hundred yards the Eleventh opened 
 with shell. The men worked like tigers in their 
 desperate resolve that their beloved guns would 
 never again feel the insult of a rebel touch. 
 
 Three times they charged and three times 
 they were repulsed. Each time they came so 
 close that we resorted to double charges of can- 
 ister and never a rebel reached the muzzles of 
 our guns. By four o'clock the Confederates 
 were staggering back or surrendering in squads. 
 
 From some prisoners taken at Corinth it was 
 learned that they were still unnerved from the 
 moral effect of their assaults at luka. Those 
 prisoners stated that, as they went into the as- 
 sault, they recognized the bark of the guns of 
 the Eleventh Ohio. Before these guns they had 
 seen hundreds of their comrades fall like wheat 
 before the harvester. They felt that they could 
 
 19 
 
not again silence the guns of the Eleventh. It 
 had taken five assaults to do so when the odds 
 were many to one. 
 
 At daylight of October 5th, after a night 
 spent in convoying prisoners and caring for the 
 wounded, we started in pursuit of the remains 
 of Price's and Van Dorn's armies. During that 
 day's march our army simply gathered in 
 throngs of rebels. The retreating force had been 
 three days without regular rations and were too 
 weak to escape. 
 
 For two long days and nights we pressed 
 our foes until our condition was hardly better 
 than theirs. At one A. M. on the second night's 
 march, we were stumbling along, almost dead 
 with fatigue, when suddenly a band struck up 
 the familiar song— John Brown's Body. Other 
 bands joined; we all woke up and were soon 
 swinging along without a thought of our condi- 
 tion. I have often wondered what moral effect 
 this musical demonstration, at dead of night, 
 had upon our quarry. 
 
 It took us three days to return to Corinth, 
 horses stiunbling with weariness, men asleep in 
 their saddles, tired but happy, a victory won 
 against odds. 
 
 20 
 
*'AN ARMY EXPERIENCE" 
 
The following appreciative remembrance of 
 the action of the Eleventh Ohio Battery at bat- 
 tles of luka, September 19, 1862, and Corinth, 
 October 4, 1862, appeared in the colunms of the 
 St. Paul (Miimesota) Pioneer Press in 1884. 
 Having been preserved by a Companion of the 
 Ohio Commandery, it was read by the Recorder, 
 Major Thrall, at the Commandery monthly meet- 
 ing of October 6, 1909, as the Recorder's contri- 
 bution to the discussion of an account of the part 
 of the Eleventh Ohio in those battles, which had 
 just been presented by Captain Neil, and by 
 general request is published by the Commandery, 
 without the advice or consent of Companion Neil. 
 
 Geo. a. Thayer, 
 
 A. B. ISHAM, 
 
 L. M. HosEA, 
 Publication Committee. 
 
 23 
 
AN ARMY EXPERIENCE. 
 
 **No scenes of life are so deeply and indelibly 
 impressed upon the memory as those which oc- 
 cur in war and battle. All the mental faculties 
 seem to be melted into a fused condition by the 
 excitement of the occasion, so that a full and 
 deep impression of all the principal events is 
 made and then to be suddenly turned to adamant 
 so that the impression must remain as long as 
 the faculties endure. There is not a soldier of 
 the late war, who took part in any engagement, 
 who does not have impressed upon his mind some 
 event or scene which then transpired that is just 
 as vivid and fresh today as on the day it was 
 made. And when the memory is turned toward 
 it by the suggestion of any other faculty— by the 
 sight of some party connected therewith, or hear- 
 ing kindred soirnds, or by those more hidden 
 spiritual influences less understood that at times 
 cause to form in order and pass in review before 
 the mind all the leading and exciting incidents 
 of past life, these events and scenes are again 
 displayed with all the vividness and strength 
 
 26 
 
of, first impression. These thoughts were sug- 
 gested to the writer upon meeting Lieutenant H. 
 M. Neil of the Eleventh Ohio Battery at the 
 meeting of the Society of the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee at St. Louis, in 1882. Twenty years had 
 passed since I had seen his face, and I had reck- 
 oned him among the brave spirits of the war 
 which had gone to rest. When I saw him last 
 before this, he was commanding his battery in 
 the thickest of the fight at the battle of Corinth 
 about 11 o'clock in the forenoon of October 4, 
 1862. His rank was that of Second Lieutenant. 
 All officers of higher grade were absent m hos- 
 pital from wounds received fifteen daj^s before 
 at luka, in which battle this battery of a few 
 more than 100 men had eighteen killed and fifty- 
 two wounded, and out of 148 horses had but three 
 left standing at the close of the engagement. The 
 battery was captured by the rebels and recap- 
 tured by our troops. Lieutenant Neil was the 
 only commissioned officer on duty at the close 
 of the engagement, and he had been wounded 
 twice with shell and twice with bullets— severe 
 flesh womids. He was besmeared with blood. 
 The Lieutenant was, notwithstanding full of 
 pluck. He said the' next morning, " If I can have 
 one hundred men detailed from the infantry 
 and horses furnished, I will have the battery in 
 fighting trim agam in two weeks." Infantry 
 
 26 
 
soldiers readily volunteered upon call to man the 
 battery, and horses were furnished by the Quar- 
 termaster, and on the afternoon of the 3d of Oc- 
 tober—fourteen da,ys from the annihilation of 
 the batter}^ the battle of Corinth was fought and 
 the Lieutenant having marched up from luka 
 without escort, cam.e upon the field with his bat- 
 tery full}^ manned, equipped and drilled, amid 
 the hurrahs and tears of the infantry that had 
 seen it destroyed under the terrible fire of the 
 19th of September, and who now seemed to feel 
 that the battery men, horses and all, had come 
 back from the regions of the dead to aid in the 
 terrible struggle now going on between the same 
 armies. 
 
 "The Lieutenant received the heartiest con- 
 gratulations of all officers who had been with him 
 in the battle of luka. While receiving those of 
 the writer he said: "I want you to stay right 
 by my battery with your regiment when it goes 
 into action here, and if you will no rebel bat- 
 talions can take it this time." There was a 
 promise to comply with his request. On the fol- 
 lowing morning when the irresistible assault of 
 the rebel army came, the Eleventh Ohio Battery 
 was in position commanding the whole rebel line 
 and the Fourth Minnesota Infantry in line flat 
 upon the ground close in its rear. Lieutenant 
 Neil was seated on his thoroughbred from twenty 
 
 27 
 
to forty feet in front of the battery, between the 
 line of fire of the guns of the middle section. He 
 requested the Colonel of the infantry to keep his 
 eye upon him and whenever he beckoned with 
 his saber, to have the infantry rise up and de- 
 liver their fire. 
 
 **Now the assaulting lines of the rebel armies 
 come on like a wave of the sea, rolling along over 
 breastworks and batteries. He orders the men 
 to open fire and, still in his advanced position, 
 waves his hat constantly to the advancing lines 
 of rebels, and shouts, 'Come on! Come on! if 
 you think you can play luka over again.' A 
 strange coincidence was that the same rebel bat- 
 talions came against this battery that had cap- 
 tured it on the 19th of September. But they 
 could not come on here. Three times the Lieu- 
 tenant signaled the infantry to rise and fire, and 
 each time the}^ rose to hear him say, 'No, no, 
 they have broke again.' 
 
 "For a half mile in front of this battery, af- 
 ter the battle, were large areas covered with the 
 dead and dying, which told with what terrible 
 effect it had been served during the assault. 
 
 "The sight of the Lieutenant, after twenty 
 years, brought up these occurrences— this whole 
 scene, and made it as fresh as if it had transpired 
 yesterday, and made me resolve to conmait it to 
 
 28 
 
writing before I died, feeling that none of us 
 had done him justice in our reports of these 
 battles. 
 
 ''The scene at Corinth, if it could be placed on 
 canvas, would be thrilling even to strangers. An 
 elegant thoroughbred Kentucky horse fully ca- 
 parisoned, on which the Lieutenant is sitting 
 erectly, with his hat in his hand, is standing out 
 in front of the battery between the lines of fire 
 of the two center guns, seemingly conscious that 
 if he moved to the right or left he would be torn 
 to atoms, and trusting himself wholly to his 
 rider, the Lieutenant is waving his hat in the air, 
 and bidding defiance to the foe; advancing in 
 masses and lines upon his positions, the artillery- 
 men with superhuman power and skill, amid the 
 smoke that rolled incessantly from the muzzles 
 of every gun, loading and firing, is a picture be- 
 fore the mind at this distance plainer than can 
 be placed on canvas by the most skillful artist. 
 It is such men and such services that saved this 
 nation in the war. They were not conspicuous 
 nor vain-glorious, perhaps not heard of before 
 the war, nor afterwards ; but in the midst of it, 
 meeting the full demands of the great occasion 
 and leaving the reward to posterity. 
 
 "What this officer did after this battle in the 
 war, I know not. He passed from my sight 
 when we withdrew from that line of battle, and 
 
 29 
 
twenty years passed before I saw liis face again, 
 and during all this time never heard a word con- 
 cerning him. When I met him it was my priv- 
 ilege to name him as one of the vice presidents of 
 our society, showing that time had in no respect 
 obliterated or dinmied the memory of his ser- 
 vices. 
 
 JOHN B. SANBORN, Commanding, 
 First Brigade, Seventh Division, Army of the 
 
 Tennessee. 
 
 St. Paul, Jan. 14, 1884/' 
 
 80