Stories of War 
 
 TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 COLLECTED AND ETg^tED 
 
 By EDWARD E.^HALE. 
 
 
 BOSTON: ■"-— - 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS. 
 1879. 
 
 9r 
 
Copyright, 1879, 
 By Roberts Brothers. 
 
 
 Univkrsity Press: 
 John "Wilson and Sox, Cambridge. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Introduction. — Life at Little Crastis . 1 
 
 11. The First Bull Run 6 
 
 III. Fort Henry and Fort Donelson .... 21 
 
 IV. General McClellan and the Peninsula. 
 
 — West Virginia 30 
 
 V. Antietam 61 
 
 VI. Pittsburg Landing 74 
 
 VII. ViCKSBURG 92 
 
 VIII. Gettysburg 119 
 
 IX. Chickamauga and Chattanooga .... 150 
 
 X. Grant's Advance on Richmond. — The 
 
 Wilderness. — Sheridan's Ride . . . 168 
 
 XI. Sherman's Great March 188 
 
 XII. Nashville 216 
 
 XIIL Siege of Richmond. — The Last Week . 226 
 
 XIV. The End . 261 
 
STORIES OF THE WAR TOLD 
 BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LIFE AT LITTLE CRASTIS. 
 
 TT was the third day of a sour northeast storm. 
 -*- Colonel Ingham had a great party of nephews 
 and nieces, and of his old correspondents and of 
 their friends, — all young people, — on a crazy, 
 rollicking visit at his country-house at Little 
 Crastis. 
 
 In pleasant weather they all fared very well, — 
 for they were all out of doors. Many of the boys 
 and girls were none too big to pick berries. None 
 were so small but they could be trusted in the 
 boats, of which there were five, on the ponds, 
 of which there were six, within an hour's walk. 
 For the bigger boys and girls there was a cata- 
 maran, in which they could make voyages on 
 the ocean. There were plover and yellow-legs, 
 and thirty-one other varieties of sea-birds for the 
 boys who liked to shoot. There were little glens 
 innumerable, ruins of old barns, queer wrecks of 
 old apple-trees, for girls or boys who wanted to 
 
 1 
 
2 STORIES^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 make sketches. There were perch, pickerel, and 
 bass for those who liked to fish. There were clethra, 
 and clematis, and coreopsis rosea, and all the rest 
 of the alphabet for those who liked to botanize. 
 There were two tents for those who liked to camp 
 out. There were bows and arrows and targets, and 
 croquet-balls and mallets and hoops, and rackets 
 and nets, and crosses for Lacrosse, and battledores 
 and shuttlecocks, for those who wanted to play 
 games ; there were saddles and horses and ponies 
 for those who wanted to ride. But all such amuse- 
 ments, vocations, and avocations fail in a sour north- 
 east storm ; — and here were there fifteen young 
 people cooped up in-doors, exhausting the in-door 
 occupations. 
 
 "Dear Uncle Fritz," said Horace, — for they all 
 called him uncle, — "what can I read?" 
 
 " Read, boy! " said the old gentleman, " there is 
 plenty of reading " ; — and he kicked open the door 
 of his own den. 
 
 The boy looked in ruefully, but did not pretend 
 to enter. " O, you know, uncle, that there 's 
 nothing there. Walter told me how you shipped 
 all those things down here because there was no 
 room for them in C. Street. Who ever read a 
 Congressional document?" 
 
 " I have read a good many, Master Horace," said 
 the Colonel, laughing ; " and you will read a good 
 many before you have done. It is all in knowing 
 how, my dear boy." 
 
LIFE AT LITTLE CRASTIS, 3 
 
 " Well, who ever read a bound-up file of old 
 newspapers, Colonel Ingham ? " asked Florence, 
 who had rallied to Horace's assistance as soon as 
 she saw that the Colonel was willing to talk. 
 
 *' All people of sense read them a great deal," 
 said the Colonel, still laughing. " Now look here, 
 children all," he said, "you were at me, only last 
 night, to tell you stories of my only battle, — the 
 famous action of the Point of Rocks, — in which 
 nobody was killed and nobody was wounded, 
 though we burned up thirty tons of powder. But 
 you would be more glad to have General Grant 
 walk in yonder, with Sherman on one side and 
 Sheridan on the other, and tell you about Vicks- 
 burg and Shiloh and Sheridan's ride." 
 
 " I am afraid we should, Uncle Fritz," said Hor- 
 ace, bravely. 
 
 '' Very good. You would be fools if not. Now, 
 in those much despised documents yonder. Master 
 Horace, and in those abominated newspapers. Miss 
 Florence, and beneath that pile of dust in the 
 corner. Master Stephen, are Grant's stories and 
 Sherman's and Sheridan's, as they told them all 
 hot from fight, all mad with defeat, or happy in 
 victory. All that is needed is a boy of sense or 
 a girl of sense to know where to look for them." 
 
 " And a real good-natured old Uncle Fritz, with 
 nothing to do but to pet a good-for-nothing set 
 of boys and girls," said Florence, coaxing him 
 and kissing him, " and willing to show those 
 
4 STORlEl^^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 stupid boys and girls where to dig in the dust, 
 and how." 
 
 "That's true enough," said the old gentleman, 
 willing to own that he was flattered; "for even 
 I will own that there is more chaff to the wheat in 
 those same newspapers and documents than there 
 is in any other threshing-floor or mill-hopper in 
 the world." 
 
 So it happened that these three young folks, 
 with more or less help from three others, whose 
 names will appear as we go on, fell foul of the heap 
 of straw, chaff, and wheat in the inner den. The 
 Colonel led the way loyally. He made them put 
 in marks, red, yellow, and blue, when they found 
 a good dramatic narrative that was worth reading 
 aloud. 
 
 There is a sort of fascination about it when you 
 are once started. And before long, even in that first 
 afternoon, five or six of the young people were at 
 work in or near the den. Those who read from 
 bound-up volumes of newspapers preferred on the 
 whole to lie nearly at full length on the floor with 
 the book, or "quarry," as Horace would call it, 
 open before them, or " in a measure," as he said, 
 under them. The others had attitudes more or 
 less elegant, and, in all cases, comfortable, for such 
 was the rule at Little Crastis. At first they began 
 to read aloud little scraps as they lighted on them, 
 and found them too exciting to be enjoyed alone. 
 
LIFE AT LITTLE CRASTIS. 5 
 
 But it soon proved that such reading only interests 
 the reader. Uncle Fritz advised them soon to mark 
 with red pencils, which he provided, what was worth 
 reading, and wait till they found fit audience, who 
 really wanted to hear. And this they did. 
 
 And so it happened that on that very evening 
 there began a series of readings aloud from the 
 grimiest and stupidest-looking old volumes of doc- 
 uments and newspapers, — readings which were 
 quite largely attended from, the little company of 
 visitors. While, in the red parlor, there went on 
 a game at vingt-un, more or less noisy. Those who 
 had tired of vingt-un a little, or thought they had 
 outgrown it, gathered in the gray parlor, and the 
 gleanings for the earlier part of the war of the 
 Rebellion were read, under more or less control 
 from Colonel Ingham, who would not let an eager 
 reader bore the others, or a modest one give up 
 her turn for some one more resolute. As the 
 summer passed, some of the visitors stayed, and 
 some went away and other some came. But it 
 often happened that there was an evening when 
 they fell back on the war papers, — as they .came 
 to call them, — and so 
 
 The Stories of the War 
 Told by Soldiers 
 came into being. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FIRST BULL RUN. 
 
 " I ^HE first evening's reading began with the First 
 ■^ Bull Run. Bull Run was the first great bat- 
 tle of the war. 
 
 " I tell you, children," said Uncle Fritz, "• there 
 was never anything like it, — no, not in those long 
 four years. I mean there was nothing that made 
 people so sick at heart. The truth was that till that 
 hour we knew nothing of war or what war was. It 
 was all a piece of stage-play and rhodomontade to 
 us who were not iti the camp, and I was not. We 
 had hardly advanced on that first notion, in which 
 people supposed that an army on one side was to 
 walk up in an open field, and another army to walk 
 up opposite them on the other side, and that they 
 were to take aim and fire at each other till one side 
 had all run away. The stuff written home from 
 Washington and the camps to the newspapers was 
 such as I cannot now believe we ever read. ^, 
 
 " I was away from home on Sunday, the day that 
 battle was fought. But the church, morning and 
 afternoon, was all excitement. Telegrams were 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 7 
 
 coming from Washington all day long ; nothing to 
 any real purpose, but all bragging, and nobody 
 thinking of anything but victory. All the anxiety 
 was who might be alive, or who dead. And from 
 that congregation where I was, I suppose some fifty 
 men, the minister among the rest, were in the bat- 
 tle, and we knew it. The next day I went do^n 
 to Boston. I was in a committee-room, with a com- 
 mittee of the Emigrant Aid Society. The news- 
 papers had had there some cheerful, even jubilant 
 accounts in the morning, and we were eagerly dis- 
 cussing them, when in came Lawrence, who was 
 always well informed. 
 
 " ' I have a despatch from Washington,' said he. 
 ' We are as badly beaten as an army can be. Wash- 
 ington is full of runaways, and I do n't know how 
 soon the Rebels may march in.' 
 
 "As it turned out, and as the boys will show 
 you, this was almost as much of an exaggeration as 
 the jubilation of the morning. But if our good 
 friend had walked round the circle and slapped any 
 one of U3 in the face we should not have been more 
 surprised, — nay, we should not have been so much 
 displeased. It was the end of all business for that 
 day. We went out to the newspaper offices, or 
 where we could, to find more scraps of news. And 
 I know I went home to tell Polly and the children, 
 feeling as sick at body as at heart. It did not seem 
 to me that life was worth living for. 
 
 "At that same moment, as I knew years after- 
 
8 ST ORIENT OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 wards, almost every house in Richmond was in the 
 depth of sorrow. The Black Horse Cavalry was 
 terribly cut up by the Union army in that action. 
 And all that afternoon, and all the night which 
 followed, every carriage in Richmond — so a negro 
 hackman told me in 1866 — Avas carrying from the 
 station to his home some wounded soldier. And 
 in so many homes they were lamenting those who 
 would never come ! There are two sides to war. 
 
 " General Mc Dowell was in immediate command 
 on our side. Horace has made up, from the care- 
 ful official reports of the battle, a little account of 
 the plan of it, and the way it was fought. He 
 will read you this first, and then you will place the 
 better the scraps which the others have found about 
 the details." 
 
 METHOD OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 In July, 1861, General McDowell was at Centreville, 
 twenty miles west of Washington, with the "Grand 
 Army" of twent3'-eight thousand men. Two miles 
 west of him, encamped behind Bull Run, with his head- 
 quarters at Manassas, three miles back, was the Rebel 
 army under Beauregard, twenty thousand strong. To 
 the north, at Harper's Ferry, was another Union arm}', 
 of eighteen thousand men, under General Patterson, 
 which held in check eight thousand Rebels at Winches- 
 ter, commanded by General Johnston. 
 
 Supposing that Patterson could keep Johnston from 
 joining Beauregard, McDowell on the twentieth of July 
 gave his orders for an advance on Bull Run on the next 
 morning. There were three roads leading from Centre- 
 ville across the Run, all of which were guarded by the 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 9 
 
 Rebels ; but to the north, at Sudlej^ Springs, was an un- 
 guarded ford which could be reached by a detour of 
 three miles from the northern road. By this ford the 
 real attack was to be made hy two divisions of the 
 army, reinforced by a third division advancing along 
 the northern road of the three to the Stone Bridge 
 where it crossed the Run, while the other division was 
 to make feints at the two southern roads, and act as a 
 reserve. 
 
 But the Rebels had guessed that some advance would 
 be made, and, before the orders for attack had been 
 given by McDowell, a large part of Johnston's army 
 had arrived at Manassas from Winchester b}^ railroad, 
 and had been put into position. The rest of the army 
 was certain to arrive at noon of the next day. 
 
 At half past one on the morning of the twenty-first 
 the Union camp was astir. General Tyler's division 
 was under arms, and began its three-mile walk to Stone 
 Bridge. But the troops and officers were raw, and it 
 was dark. They could not see to get their breakfast, 
 men carried off each other's guns, company ran afoul of 
 company, and regiments started in the wrong order. 
 Suffice it to sa}^ that it took Tyler six hours to advance 
 three miles and deplo}^ into line ; it was as late as half 
 past six when he began firing his thirty-pounder to show 
 that he was read3\ 
 
 Colonel Hunter, who, with his own and General 
 Heintzelman's di^dsion, was to march five miles to Sud- 
 ley Springs, was still more unfortunate. He had to start 
 after Tyler on the same road ; he had to share all his 
 delays, and it was six o'clock before he came to his own 
 three miles of woods. Here the marching was still 
 more difficult, and it was half past nine before his ad- 
 vance reached the ford, with men who for eight hours 
 had been tired by marching, or by waiting, more tiring 
 even than marching. 
 
 This delay it was which lost the Union forces the 
 battle ; for though the whole Rebel army was massed 
 south of the Stone Bridge, Tyler's firing aroused them 
 
10 storieWtold by soldiers. 
 
 to the knowledge of our advance on the right, and at 
 once troops were* sent up to sustain the attack. They 
 w^ere drawn up to oppose Tyler ; but presently Hunter's 
 men were seen crossing above, and the Rebels faced to 
 the left and advanced to an open field sloping down to 
 the woods, from which he must emerge. They halted 
 within musket-shot of these woods, and when Hunter's 
 advance came to the open ground, it was met by both 
 artillery and infantr}' fire. Nothing daunted, however, 
 his first regiments formed in the shelter of the woods, 
 and advanced, driving the enemy back, be3'ond the road 
 on which Tyler was stationed, while the troops in the 
 rear formed to the right and left. When Tyler learned 
 from look-outs in the high trees that Hunter was ad- 
 vancing to the road, he ordered his subordinates. 
 Colonels Sherman and Keyes, with their brigades, 
 across the Run. They forded the stream, as the bridge 
 and road were impassable from the abatis of the Rebels, 
 and faced to the south, forming to the left of Hunter's 
 two divisions. The whole line, advancing, drove the 
 enemy, though strongly reinforced, still farther back, 
 up rising ground upon a plateau, where they made a 
 stand. Here one of Keyes's regiments charged up the 
 hill, capturing a battery, and gaining a position upon 
 the top. Tliis was the turning-point of the battle ; the 
 regiment was driven back again after holding the ridge 
 for hardly five minutes. The attack was renewed, with 
 less success, the Rebels advanced and were driven back, 
 and the "wave of success swept to and fro. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the Rebel lines the prospects were b}^ 
 no means so favorable. Tlieir troops with the greatest 
 diflSculty held the hill against the vigorous though spas- 
 modic attacks of our men. Beauregard had hurried 
 up all his troops from the two lo.wer roads, excepting 
 one brigade, and these new troops were pushed to the 
 front, while those who had been broken by the Union 
 attacks were led and driven into shape behind. The 
 time had passed when Johnston's reinforcements were 
 promised. Messengers were sent to the railroad to stop 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 11 
 
 the train at the nearest point to the battle-field, and hurry 
 the men up directl}^ when they should arrive. The fire 
 of the Union troops, which had slackened, was now 
 reviving, and there were s3'mptoms of a general ad- 
 vance, when, at half past three, on their extreme left, 
 the Rebels heard loud cheering. Anxiously the}^ 
 watched to see if it were friend or foe, when the shout 
 of "Johnston! Johnston!" was heard, and the right 
 of the Union troops was seen to break and run. A 
 general advance was ordered, and the Union line fell 
 back, the two divisions on the right in total disorder, 
 with the exception of the battalion of regulars, which 
 covered their flight. The Rebels pursued them to the 
 Run, where, the reserve under Miles interposing to pro- 
 tect the rout, the Rebels called a halt. The panic 
 spread among the Union camp-followers, and many of 
 the fugitives did not stop till they reached Washington. 
 The whole Union line fell back to their old camp at 
 Centreville, where they passed the night. The next 
 day they retreated to the Potomac. 
 
 AN IMPROMPTU LOOK-OUT. 
 
 During this period of waiting the thirty-pounder was 
 occasionall}^ used with considerable effect against bodies 
 of infantr}' and cavalry, which could be seen from time 
 to time moving in the direction of Hunter's column, and 
 out of the range of ordinary guns. Using a high tree 
 as an observator}-, we could constantly see the op- 
 erations of Hunter's and Heintzeiman's column from 
 the time they crossed Bull Run, and through one of 
 my staflT, Lieut. O'Rourke, of the Engineers, I was 
 promptly notified as to any change in the progress of 
 their columns up to the time when it appeared that the 
 heads of both were arrested, and the enemy seemed to 
 be moving heavy reinforcements to support their troops. 
 At this time I ordered Colonel Sherman with his brig- 
 ade to cross Bull Run, and to support the two columns 
 alread}^ in action. Colonel Sherman, as appears by his 
 
12 STORIElf^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 reports, crossed the run without opposition, and, after 
 encountering a part}' of the enein}' flying before Hun- 
 ter's forces, found General McDowell, and received his 
 orders to join in the pursuit. — Gen. Tyler., \st Division. 
 
 A SAD MISTAKE. 
 
 This movement was effected at ' ' quick " and ' ' double- 
 quick" time, both b}' the infantry and artillery, during 
 which march the men threw from their shoulders their 
 haversacks, blankets, and most of their canteens, to 
 facilitate their eagerness to engage the enem3\ On 
 arriving at the point indicated, being the extreme left 
 of the enem}' and the extreme right of our line, and in 
 advance of all other of our troops, and where I was in- 
 formed officialh' that two other regiments had declined 
 to charge, we formed a line of battle, our right resting 
 within a few feet of the woods, and the left at and 
 around Rickett's batter}', and upon the crest of the hill, 
 within fifty or sixty feet of the enemy's line of infantr}', 
 with whom we could have readil}' conversed in an ordi- 
 nary tone of voice. Immediately upon Rickett's bat- 
 tery coming into position and we in "line of battle,'* 
 Colonel Heintzelman rode up between our lines and that 
 of the enemy, within pistol-shot of each, which circum- 
 stance staggered my judgment whether those in front 
 were friends or enemies, it being equall}^ manifest that 
 the enemy were in the same dilemma as to our identity. 
 But a few seconds, however, undeceived both, — they 
 displaying the Rebel and we the Union flag. Instantly 
 a blaze of fire was poured into the faces of the comba- 
 tants, each producing terrible destruction, owing to the 
 close proximity of the forces, which was followed by 
 volley after volley, in regular and irregular order as to 
 time, until Rickett's battery was disabled and cut to 
 pieces, and a large portion of its officers and men had 
 fallen, and until Companies H, I, K, C, G, and those 
 immediately surrounding my regimental flag, were so 
 desperately cut to pieces as to make it more of a 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 13 
 
 slaughter-house than an equal combat, the enem^y mani- 
 festh^ numbermg five guns to our one, besides being 
 intrenched in the woods and behind ditches and pits 
 plainly perc^eptible, and with batteries upon the enemj-'s 
 right, enfilading my left flank, and within three hundred 
 and fifty yards' direct range. After an effort to obtain 
 aid from the Fire Zouaves, then immediately upon our 
 left, two or three different orders came to retire, as it 
 was manifest that the contest was too deadly and un- 
 equal to be longer justifiably maintained. — Col. Gorham^ 
 \st Minn.., with 3d Division. 
 
 A BRAVE CAPTAIN. 
 
 A further order was then made to advance the colors 
 of the Seventy-first New York to the front, but, as it 
 seemed to be certain death to stand exposed to the tor- 
 nado which swept the brow of the hill, the color-bearer 
 naturally hesitated for a moment ; whereupon several of 
 Compan}" F sprang quickl}' forward, with the excla- 
 mation, " Give us the colors ! " But Captain Coles, of 
 Company C, was the foremost in the effort, and, seizing 
 the flag, he ran with it full fift}^ paces to the front, and 
 held it at arm's length high in the air, and then planted 
 it in the earth. Its folds were hailed in the Rebel bat- 
 ter}^ with a demoniac 3'ell, and in the next instant the 
 bright banner was riddled with a shower of balls. Prov- 
 identiall}', the gallant Captain was untouched. — Capt. 
 Wilkes. 
 
 A LEAP FOR LIBERTY. 
 
 The Sixtj^-ninth New York brought up the rear of the 
 temporarily retiring column ; but its gallant Colonel, 
 watchful of its welfare, lingered behind and urged strag- 
 glers not to get separated from their commands. He 
 paused for an instant to salute Colonel Tompkins, of 
 the Second, who stood dismounted at a little distance 
 from his regiment, on the opposite side of the road. 
 
14 STORI^f TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Just at tills moment a large body of the enemy's Black 
 Horse were seen making a charge toward the in, though 
 its immediate object was to attack Carlisle's batter}^, 
 which, out of ammunition, stood limbered up in the 
 centre of the road. The two colonels watched the 
 movement, and, transfixed with excitement as they saw 
 the dragoons sabre the cannoniers, forgot to take meas- 
 ures for their own protection. - It was imminently 
 necessaiy that they should, for the quick exploit upon 
 the battery had scarcely retarded the black column in 
 the least, and they came pouring upon the unformed 
 columns of the Schenck Brigade. Fromptl}', however, 
 the quick order of MeCook shaped the First Ohio, and 
 the others, following b}' instinct, showed a firm line, 
 with ]ia3'onets all poised, and ready for the charge. 
 The Black Horse looked for a moment, but, not liking 
 that array of steel, they flirted off to the right (receiv- 
 ing a volie}^ as they w^ent), and a squad of them made a 
 dash to cut oflT the two colonels who were isolated in the 
 road. Tompkins, who saw the danger coming, quickl}^ 
 sprang to a horse near at hand, and calling on Corcoran 
 to follow, spurred him at a fence. The troopers, how- 
 ever, were too near for Corcoran's tired steed, and, 
 whirling around the Irish colonel, they took him cap- 
 tive, and bore him off. A portion of the squad followed 
 after Tompkins, but his spirited charger leaped two 
 fences in line style, and amid the crack of the dra- 
 goons' six-shooters, he got safe awo3\ The brigade of 
 Schenck, being now utterl}^ fagged out, and being more- 
 over entirely without orders, fell back upon the foot- 
 steps of the Sixt^'-ninth. — Gapt. Wilkes. 
 
 pioneers' work. 
 
 While this was going on. Captain Alexander, of the 
 Engineer Corps, brought up the company' of pioneers, 
 or axe-men, which, with its officers and sixty men, had 
 been entirely detailed from the regiments of my brigade, 
 to open a communication over the bridge, and through 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. • 15 
 
 the heav}' abatis which obstructed the passage of troops 
 on our front bej'ond the Kun. — Ge?i. Schenck^ 2d Bri- 
 gade^ 1st Division. 
 
 KEYES'S SPLENDID CHARGE. 
 
 At about two o'clock, p. m., General Tyler ordered 
 me to take a batterj^ on a height in front. The battery 
 was strongly posted, and supported by infantrj^ and 
 riflemen, sheltered by a building, a fence, and a hedge. 
 Mj^ order to charge was obeyed with the utmost prompt- 
 ness. Colonel Jameson of the Second Maine, and 
 Colonel Chatfield of the Third Connecticut Volunteers, 
 pressed forward their regiments up the base slope about 
 one hundred 3'ards, when I ordered them to lie down at 
 a point offering a small protection, and load. I then 
 ordered them to advance again, which the}' did, in the 
 face of a movable battery of eight pieces and a large 
 body of infantr}', toward the top of the hill. As we 
 moved forward we came under the fire of other large 
 bodies of the enem}' posted behind breastworks, and, on 
 reaching the summit of the hill, the firing became so hot 
 that an exposure to it of five minutes would have anni- 
 hilated my whole line Private Leach is also 
 
 highl}' praised for having spiked three abandoned guns 
 with a ramrod, and then bringing away two abandoned 
 
 muskets Lieutenant-Colonel Speidal of the First 
 
 Connecticut was set upon b}' three of the enem}', who 
 undertook to make him a prisoner. The Lieutenant- 
 Colonel killed one and drove off the other two of his 
 assailants, and escaped. — Col. Keyes, Ist Brigade, \st 
 Division. 
 
 THE FIRST REVERSE. 
 
 Griffin's and Rickett's batteries were ordered by the 
 commanding general to the top of the hill on the right, 
 supported with the Fire Zouaves and Marines, while the 
 Fourteenth entered the skirt of wood on their right to pro- 
 
16 
 
 STOnil^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 tect that flank, and a column composod of the Twenty- 
 seventh New York, Eleventh and Fifth Massachusetts, 
 Second Minnesota, and Sixty-ninth New York moved 
 up toward the left flank of the batteries ; but so soon as 
 the}' were in position, and before the flanking supports 
 had reached them, a murderous fire of musketr}- and 
 rifles, opened at pistol range, cut down ever}' cannonier 
 and a large number of horses. The fire came from 
 some infantry of the enemy, which had been mistaken 
 for our own forces, an officer in the field having stated 
 that it was a regiment sent by Colonel Heintzelman to 
 support the batteries. 
 
 The evanescent courage of the Zouaves prompted 
 them to fire perhaps a hundred shots, when they broke 
 and fled, leaving the batteries open to a charge of the 
 enem3''s cavalry, which took place immediately. The 
 Marines also, in spite of the exertions of their gallant 
 officers, gave wa}' in disorder. The Fourteenth, on the 
 right, and the column on the left, hesitatingly retired, 
 with the exception of the Sixty-ninth and Thirty-eiglith 
 New York, who nobly stood and returned the fire of the 
 enemy for fifteen minutes. Soon the slopes behind us 
 were swarming with our retreating and disorganized 
 forces, while riderless horses and artiller}' teams ran 
 furiously through the flying crowd. 
 
 All further efforts were futile. The words, gestures, 
 and threats of our officers were thrown away upon men 
 who had lost all presence of mind, and only longed for 
 absence of bod}'. Some of our noblest and best officers 
 lost their lives in trying to rally them. Upon ouv first 
 position the Twenty-seventh was the first to rally, under 
 tlie command of Major Bartlett, and around it the other 
 regiments engaged soon collected their scattered frag- 
 ments. The battalion of regulars, in the mean time, 
 moved steadily across the field from left to right, and 
 took up a position, where it held the entire forces of the 
 rebels in check until our forces were somewhat rallied. — 
 Col. Porter^ \st Brigade^ 2d Division, 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 17 
 
 THE KOUT. 
 
 The retreat continued thus until the column was 
 about emerging from the woods and entering upon the 
 Warrenton Turnpike, when the artillery and cavalry 
 went to the front, and the enemy opened fire upon the 
 retreating mass of men. Upon the bridge crossing Cub 
 Run a shot took effect upon the horses of a team that 
 was crossing. The wagon was overturned directly in 
 the centre of the bridge, and the passage was completely 
 obstructed. The enemy continued to play his artillery 
 upon the train carriages, ambulances, and artillery 
 wagons that filled the road, and these were reduced to 
 ruin. The artiller}^ could not possibly pass, and five 
 pieces of the Rhode Island battery, which had been 
 safely brought off the field, were here lost. — Col. Burn- 
 side., 2d Brigade., 2d Division. 
 
 ACTION OF THE RESERVE. 
 
 Soon afterward, several squadrons of the enemj-'s 
 cavahy advanced along the road, and appeared before 
 the outposts. They were challenged, ''Who comes 
 here?" and, remaining without an}- answer, I, being 
 just iDresent at the outpost, called "Union forever!" 
 whereupon the officer of the enemy's cavalry com- 
 manded, '"'■ En avant! en avantl knock him down!" 
 .Now the skirmishers fired, when the enemj' turned 
 around, leaving several killed and wounded on the spot. 
 About nine prisoners who were alread}' in their hands 
 were liberated b}' this action. — Col, Blenker^ \st Bri' 
 gade, 6th Division. 
 
 A YOUNG COMMANDER. 
 
 While the Thirty- second was in this position, the 
 Sixteenth and Thirty-first having passed within its 
 range, a j^outhful orderly rode up to Colonel Mathesou 
 
 2 
 
r^ 
 
 18 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 to inform him that the Black Cavahy, sheltered from 
 his observation by a piece of woods, were coming up 
 on the right, and, if he would take a cut with his 
 regiment across the fields, the}^ would be turned back 
 upon their errand. The evolution was performed, 
 gave the protection that was desired, and the Black 
 Horse relinquished its purpose in that quarter. While 
 the regiment, however, was adhering to this position, 
 the same 3'outh who had imparted the previous sug- 
 gestion roda up to the regiment again, and told 
 Matheson he had better now fall back on Centreville, 
 as his dut}" at that spot had been thoroughl}^ per- 
 formed. As this was about the first sign of orders 
 (with one single exception) he had received during the 
 entire day, Matheson felt some curiosit}' to learn who 
 this young Lieutenant was, and whence these orders 
 came ; he therefore turned sharply on the youth, who, he 
 now perceived, could not be more tlian twent3'-two or 
 three, and said, "Young man, I would like to know 
 3'our name." The j^outh replied that he was a son of 
 Quartermaster-General Meigs. " B3' whose authorit}', 
 then, do you deliver me these orders?" was the Cali- 
 fornian's next inquir3\ The 3'oung man smiled, and 
 remarked, "Well, sir, the truth is, that for the last few 
 hours I have been giving all the orders for this division, 
 and acting as general too, for there is no general on 
 the field."— (7a/?^. Wdkes. 
 
 A BRAVE OFFICER. 
 
 In addition, I deem it my dut3" to add that Lieut. 
 Ames was wounded so as to be unable to ride his horse, 
 at almost the first fire : 3'et he sat b3' his command 
 directing the fire, being helped on and oft' the caisson 
 during the dift'erent changes of front or position, refusing 
 to leave the field until he became too weak to sit up. — 
 Capt. Griffin, 0th Art., with 2d Division. 
 
THE FIRST BULL RUN. 19 
 
 A REBEL BATTERY. 
 
 While this last batteiy was forming in our front, a 
 vast column of thousands of infantry marched down in 
 close order, about two hundred yards to its right. I did 
 not then know where the several regiments of our bri- 
 gade were posted. We heard firing upon our right and 
 left, but too far off to protect us from a sudden charge, 
 as we were in the middle of an open field, and not a 
 single compan}' of infantry visible to us on the right, 
 left, or rear. At the moment the enemy's main column 
 came down the hill, we observed the head of another 
 column advancing down the valley from our left, and 
 therefore concealed by a hill, and not over three hun- 
 dred and fifty or four hundred yards distant. At first 
 I took them for friends, and ordered the men not to fire 
 on them. To ascertain certainly who the}' were, I sprang 
 upon my horse and galloped to the top of the hill to 
 our left, when I had a nearer and better view. There 
 were two regiments of them. They halted about three 
 hundred yards in front of their own batter}^ on the hill- 
 side, wheeled into line with their backs towards us, 
 and fired a voile}', apparently at their battery. This 
 deceived me, and I shouted to my men to fire upon 
 the battery, ■ — that these were friends, who would charge 
 and take it in a moment. Fortunatel}', my order was 
 not heard or not obeyed by all the gunners, for some of 
 them commenced firing into this line, which brought 
 them to the right-about, and the}' commenced advancing 
 towards us, when their uniform disclosed fully their 
 character. I instantl}' ordered the second section of my 
 batter}' to limber up and come on the hill where I was, in- 
 tending to open on them with canister. Anticipating this 
 movement, and intending to make the hill to the left too 
 hot for us, or seeing me out there alone, where I could 
 observe their movements and report them, their nearest 
 battery directed and fired all its guns at me at once, 
 but without hitting me or my horse. 1 galloped back to 
 
20 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 my guns, and found that the two guns on our right had 
 left the field, and we were alone again. My order to 
 Ihnber up the second section was understood as applying 
 to the whole battery, so that the drivers had equalized 
 the teams sufficient!}' to move all the guns and caissons, 
 and the pieces were all limbered. On riding back a 
 short distance, where I could see over the hill again, I 
 discovered the enem}' approaching rapidly, and so near 
 that I doubted our ability' to save the battery ; but, by a 
 very rapid movement up the ravine, we avoided the shells 
 of the three batteries that were now directed at us, 
 sufficientlv to escape with three guns and all the caissons. 
 The fourth gun, 1 think, w^as struck under the axle by an 
 exploding shell, as it broke right in the middle, and 
 dropped the gun in the field. We saved the team. 
 Their advance fired a volley of musketry at us without 
 effect, when we got over the hill out of their reach, and 
 a few moments afterw^ards heard the infantry engage 
 them from the woods, some distance to the south of 
 us. — Capt. Imboden, Staunton Artillery^ C. S. A. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON. 
 
 "\/'0U can see well enough how eager the whole 
 "^ country was for action, — and how every- 
 body chafed under the delay, which people hardly 
 understood, of preparing for war. In truth, armies 
 had to be clothed, shod, trained to duty. Powder 
 had to be made, — and for this saltpetre had to be 
 bought, even on the other side of the world, — 
 cannon were to be cast, bored, and rifled, — all 
 the other munitions of war were to be made, and 
 this on a scale without precedent. Winter also 
 came on, and winter, in countries where the roads 
 are bad, always arrests the course of war. 
 
 This tedious waiting was broken in upon every 
 day by some report or other from the long line of 
 the scene of war. It was not in Virginia only, it was 
 in the State then new made, and now called West 
 Virginia, — a State which was loyal when " Old 
 Virginia " east of the mountains left the Union, — it 
 was in Kentucky, in Missouri, in South Carolina, and 
 in Louisiana, that fighting was going on ; so that 
 every day's newspaper had its story of a skirmish 
 
22 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 somewhere, and the preparation for battle. And 
 there were letters — oh, so many letters ! — from the 
 armies^ from brothers and sons and husbands and 
 fathers. Yet, all through the autumn and after the 
 winter began, there had been no movement of first- 
 rate importance until the Rebel armies were driven 
 out of Kentucky and of the greater part of Ten- 
 nessee by the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Don- 
 elson. The joy of the loyal States was out of all 
 proportion to the numbers engaged, or to the imme- 
 diate importance of the battles. In truth, those 
 battles showed a great many things which were not 
 known before, — though they had been hoped for. 
 They showed how much might be expected from the 
 ''push" and spirit of the Western troops, though 
 they had not been trained to war. Men fought in 
 them, and fought well, who had not had their 
 muskets a fortnight. These battles showed also 
 that a commander had appeared who understood 
 tlie Western troops, had confidence in them, and 
 knew how to use them with success. 
 
 This officer was Ulysses Simpson Grant, — and 
 these successes first brought his name prominently 
 before the country. 
 
 You will probably not find Fort Henry or Fort 
 Donelson on your school maps. They were built 
 simply for the purposes of the Rebels there, — and 
 have long since ceased to have any purpose. But 
 you can place them well enough on your maps, 
 if you will find where the Cumberland River and 
 
FORT H ENTRY AND FORT DO NELSON. 23 
 
 where the Tennessee River cross the line of Ken- 
 tucky. Just south of this line, on the eastern side 
 of the Tennessee, was Fort Henry, and a few miles 
 from it, on the western side of the Cumberland, 
 was Fort Donelson. General Grant moved with 
 seventeen thousand men, on transports, on the^ 
 river from Cairo, on the 2d of February, 1862. On 
 the 4th he landed three miles below Fort Henry, 
 and on the 6th began to move by land against 
 the fort. Commodore Foote, of the navy, in 
 command of the gun-boats, moved up by water.^ 
 Of course he arrived first. His fire silenced the 
 water batteries in an hour and a half, and the fort 
 surrendered at discretion. The garrison, except- 
 ing sixty men who were kept to rub the guns, had 
 been marched off to Fort Donelson. So when 
 General Grant arrived with his force, which had 
 a much longer course by land than the boats 
 had had by water, he found the fort had surren- 
 dered and the garrison were gone. 
 
 Here is his letter announcing the success. Ob- 
 serve the confidence with which he speaks of what 
 he should do next : — 
 
 FORT HENRY CAPITULATES. 
 
 In a little over one hour all the batteries were silenced, 
 and the fort surrendered at discretion to Flag-OfRcer 
 Foote, giving us all their guns, camp equipage, etc. 
 The prisoners taken were General Tilghman and staff. 
 Captain Taylor and compan}", and the sick. The garri- 
 son* I think, must have commenced the retreat last 
 
24 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 night, or at an earl}' hour this morning. Had I not felt 
 it an imperative dnt}^ to attack Fort Henr}' to-da}-, I 
 should have made the investment complete, and delayed 
 until to-morrow, so as to have secured the garrison. I 
 do not now believe, however, that the result would have 
 been any more satisfactory. 
 
 The gun-boats have proved themselves well able 
 to resist a severe cannonading. All the iron-clads 
 received more or less shots, — the flag-ship, some 
 twenty-eight, — without any serious damage to any ex- 
 cept the Essex. This vessel received one shot in her 
 boilers that disabled her, killing and wounding some 
 thirty-two men, Captain Porter among the wounded. 
 
 I shall take and destro}' Fort Donelson on the 8th, 
 and return to Fort Henr}' with the forces emplo3'ed, un- 
 less it looks possible to occupy the place with a small 
 force, that could retreat easily to the main body. I 
 shall regard it more in the light of an advanced guard 
 than as a permanent post. 
 
 For the character of the works at Fort Henry I will 
 refer 3'ou to reports of the engineers 
 
 Owiug to the intolerable state of the roads, no trans- 
 portation will be taken to Fort Donelson, and but little 
 artillery, and that with double teams. — Gen. Grant. 
 
 Just notice, " I shall take and destroy Fort Don- 
 elson on the 8th." This shows what General 
 Sherman alluded to as General Grant's confidence 
 in success. 
 
 He did not move on the 8th, however, but on 
 the 12th. And here is his story of what happened 
 then : — 
 
 GENERAL GRANT'S HISTORY OF DONELSON. 
 
 I am pleased to announce to the Department the un- 
 conditional surrender, this morning, of Fort Donelson, 
 with twelve to fifteen thousand prisoners, at least forty 
 
FORT HENRY AND FORT DON ELS ON. 25 
 
 pieces of artilleiy, and a large amount of stores, horses, 
 mules, and other public property. 
 
 I left Fort Henry on the 12th instant, with a force of 
 about fifteen thousand men, divided into two divisions, 
 under the C(Hiimand of Generals McClernand and Smith. 
 Six regiments were sent around by water the da}^ before, 
 convoyed by a gun-boat (or boats) , and with instruc- 
 tions not to pass it. 
 
 The troops made the march in good order, the head 
 of the column arriving within two miles of the fort at 
 twelve o'clock m. At this point the enemy's pickets 
 were met and driven in. The fortifications of the enemy 
 were from this point gradually approached and sur- 
 rounded, with occasional skirmishing on the line. The 
 following day, owing to the non-arrival of the gun-boats 
 and reinforcements sent by water, no attack was made, 
 but the investment was extended on the flanks of the 
 enemy, and drawn closer to his works, with skirmishing 
 all day. On tiie evening of the 13th, the gun-boats and 
 reinforcements arrived. On the 14th, a gallant attack 
 was made by Flag-Ollicer Foote upon the enemy's river 
 batteries with his fleet. The engagement lasted proba- 
 bly one hour and a half, and bade fair to result favorably, 
 when two unlucky shots disabled two of the armored 
 boats, so that they were carried back l^y the current. 
 The remaining two were very much disabled also, hav- 
 ing received a number of heavy shots about the pilot- 
 houses and other parts of the vessels. After these 
 mishaps, I concluded to make the investment of Fort 
 Donelson as perfect as possible, and partially' fortify', 
 and await repairs for the gun-boats. This plan was 
 frustrated, however, by the enemy making a most vig- 
 orous attack upon our right wing, commanded by Brig- 
 adier-General J. A. McClernand, and which consisted 
 of his division and a portion of the force under General 
 L. Wallace. 
 
 The enem}' were repelled, after a closely contested 
 battle of several hours, in which our loss was heavy. 
 The officers suffered out of proportion. I have not the 
 
26 
 
 SrORIE^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 means of determining our loss, even approximately, hnt 
 it cannot fall far short of twelve hundred, killed, 
 wounded, and missing. Of the latter, I understand, 
 through General Buckner, about two hundred and fifty 
 were taken prisoners. I shall retain here enough of the 
 enemv to exchange for them, as they were immediately 
 shipped off, and not left for re-capture. 
 
 About the close of this action .the ammunition and 
 cartridge-boxes gave out, which, with the loss of many 
 of the field-officers, produced great confusion in the 
 ranks. Seeing that the enemy did not take advantage 
 of it, convinced me that equal confusion, and conse- 
 quently great demoralization, existed with him. Tak- 
 ing advantage of this fact, I ordered a charge upon the 
 left (enemy's right) with the division under General C. 
 F. Smith, which was most brilliantl}' executed, and gave 
 our arms full assurance of victor3^ The battle lasted 
 until dark, and gave us possession of part of the in- 
 trenchment. An attack was ordered from the other 
 flank, after the charge b}' General Smith was com- 
 menced, by the divisions under McClerjiand and Wal- 
 lace, which, notwithstanding hours of exposure to a 
 heavy tire in the fore part of the day, was gallantly 
 made, and the enemy further repulsed. At the points 
 thus gained, night having come on, all the troops en- 
 camped for the night, feeling that a complete victory 
 would crown their eftbrts at an early hour in the morn- 
 ing. This morning, at a very earh* hour, a note was 
 received from General Buckner, under a flag of truce, 
 proposilig an armistice. A copy of the correspondence 
 which ensued is herewith enclosed. 
 
 I could mention individuals who especially distin- 
 guished themselves, but will leave this to division and 
 brigade commanders, whose reports will be forwarded 
 as soon as received. 
 
 Of the division commanders, however. Generals 
 Smith, McClernand, and Wallace, I must do the justice 
 to say that all of them were with their commands in the 
 midst of danger, and were always ready to execute all 
 orders, no matter what the exposure to themselves. 
 
FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON. 27 
 
 At the hour the attack was made on General McCler- 
 nand's command I was absent, having received a note 
 from Flag-Offlcer Foote, requesting me to go and see 
 •him, he being unable to call on me in consequence of a 
 wound received the day before. — Gen. Grants Official 
 Beport. 
 
 THE REBEL ATTACK. 
 
 Again the Rebels move towards the right flank of oar 
 new line, and again the battle rages. Craft's brigade, 
 of Lewis Wallace's division, is ordered down upon this 
 flanking column at a run. Thus checked, the enemy 
 might have been driven back and pursued, had it not 
 been for a new and unexpected foe, or rather the fear of 
 one, swarming from their intrenchments, and passing 
 the rifle-pits like a surge of the sea. Buckner's force 
 came out to attack the left flank and crotchet of our 
 new line. As soon as they were discovered, Wallace 
 strengthened the flank thus threatened, and two of 
 Taylor's guns, coming rapidl3' into action, dealt grape 
 and canister on his advance. Buckner was easily re- 
 pulsed, for his attack was very feeblv delivered, and 
 his troops behaved in the most cowardly manner. When, 
 at eleven o'clock, Pillow rode over to Buckner's position, 
 he found them huddled together under cover, from 
 which it was onl}^ after a good deal of artillery firing 
 that their general could persuade them to emerge. In 
 speaking of the repulse, Buckner says his attacking 
 regiments "withdrew without panic, but in some con- 
 fusion, to the trenches." 
 
 Bat the moral etrect of Buckner's attack was not with- 
 out its value. Beset on all sides, Pillow thundering 
 upon our new front, the cavalr}' threatening our rear, 
 Johnson's well extended upon our right, checked but 
 not driven off* by Cruft, our men were somewhat demor- 
 alized by Buckner's demonstration ; many became dis- 
 heartened ; the fugitives from the front became a crowd. 
 A mounted officer galloped down the road, shouting, 
 
28 STORIE^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 *'We are cut to pieces." The ammunition had given 
 out. Our line, including Cruft, who had borne the brunt 
 of the battle for some time, was again forced back. 
 Logan, Lawler, and Ransom were wounded, — many field- 
 officers and large numbers of subalterns killed. The 
 crisis of the battle had indeed arrived, when General 
 Wallace posted Colonel Thayer's (Third) brigade across 
 the road, formed a reserve of three regiments, placed 
 Wood's battery in position, and awaited the attack. 
 The retiring regiments formed ^gain in the rear, and 
 were supplied with ammunition. The Rebel attack upon 
 this new line was extremel}' vigorous. They had de- 
 layed for a while to plunder the dead and pick up what 
 they could find in McClernand's camp, and Pillow sent 
 back an aid to telegraph to Nashville that, "on the 
 honor of a soldier," the day was theirs. The new at- 
 tack, which he was about to make, was onl^^ the finish- 
 ing stroke. Again he moved upon Tha3'er's brigade ; 
 but by their unflinching stand and deliberate fire, and 
 especiall}^ by the pioneers of the First Nebraska, and 
 the excellent handling of the artillery, he was re- 
 pulsed. — Gen. Coppee. 
 
 smith's attack. 
 
 Wallace was already on his war-path, as we have 
 just described, when General Smith organized his col- 
 umn of attack. Cook's brigade is posted on his left, 
 and is designed to make a feint upon the work. Caven- 
 der's heav}^ guns are posted in rear to the right and left, 
 having a cross-fire upon the intrenchments, and also 
 playing upon the fort ; but the attacking force — the 
 forlorn hope — is Lanman's brigade, formed in close 
 column of regiments, and composed of the Second Iowa, 
 the Fifty-second Indiana (temporarily attached), the 
 Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Seventh Iowa, and the Four- 
 teenth Iowa. 
 
 Cook's feigned attack is already begun ; Cavender's 
 guns are thundering away. It is nearly sunset, when 
 
FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON. 29 
 
 Smith, hearing Wallace's guns far to the right, puts 
 himself at the head of Lanman's brigade, and, climbing 
 the steep hill-side, bursts upon the ridge on which the 
 enem^'has constructed his outer works. Before advan- 
 cing, and when the force was just in readiness to move, 
 Smith had ridden along the line, and in a few but em- 
 phatic words had told them the dv\t\ thc}^ were to per- 
 form. He said that he would lead them, and that the 
 pits must be taken by the bayonet alone. Perhaps 
 during the whole war, fi>ll as it is of brilliant actions, 
 there is none more striking than this charge. 
 
 At the given signal, the lines are put in motion. Smith 
 riding in advance, with the color-bearer alongside of 
 him, his commanding figure, gra}^ hair, and haughty 
 contempt of danger, acting upon his men like the white 
 plume of Navarre at Ivr3'. Not far has he moved be- 
 fore his front line is swept b}' the enemy's artiller}' with 
 murderous effect. His men waver for a moment, but 
 their general, sublime in his valor, reminds them, in caus- 
 tic words, that while he, as an old regular^ is in the line 
 of his professional dut}', this is what they have volunteered 
 to do. With oaths and urgenc}', his hat waving upon 
 the point of his sword, bj^ the splendor of his example, 
 he leads them on through this valley of death, up the 
 slope, through the abatis, up to the intrenchment — and 
 over. AVith a thousand shouts, the}" plant their stand- 
 ards on the captured w^orks, and pour in volley after 
 volle}^ before which the Rebels flj^ in precipitate terror. 
 Battery after battery is brought forward. Stone's arriv- 
 ing first, and then a direct and enfilading fire is poured 
 upon the flanks and faces of the work. Four hundred 
 of Smith's gallant column have fallen, but the charge is 
 decisive. Grant's tactics aind Smith's splendid valor 
 have won the day. — Gen. Coupee, 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GENERAL McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA.— 
 WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 IV/rEANWHILE, on the Atlantic side, — in front 
 -^^■*- of Washington, as soldiers say — they did 
 not mean to make the mistake of Bull Run again. 
 General Scott, who was an old man, withdrew from 
 the command of the army. General McClellan, 
 comparatively a young man, had the credit of the 
 one success so far attained by the National army. 
 This was in West Virginia. He was an accom- 
 plished officer, and people hoped he would be the 
 young Napoleon again. You shall see, as an en- 
 gineer officer tells tlie story, how that success in 
 Western Virginia came about. JMcClellan was ap- 
 pointed to command the army of the Potomac. He 
 was not afraid to conquer by delay, if he could, as 
 Washington and Fabius had done before him. So, 
 from the 1st of August, 1861, all through the 
 winter, and until the next May, he Avas engaged 
 on the southern side of the Potomac in bringing 
 the Northern army into discipline, — in arranging 
 its several parts so that they should work as one 
 machine, and in accustoming^ men and officers to 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 31 
 
 their duties and to their relations with each other. 
 As nine out of ten of these soldiers had never 'been 
 soldiers before, — indeed, had scarcely dreamed of 
 such a thing, — the time was none too much for the 
 enterprise. At first the country behind the army 
 was well enough satisfied, for the lesson of Bull Run 
 had been a tremendous one. But people observed 
 that the Western army did not seem to require such 
 long preparation, and when spring came of the 
 year 1862 they were impatient, as the army itself 
 was indeed, for action. Still, from the army itself 
 there came back the word that nothing could be 
 done till the roads were dry. The mud of the 
 Virginia road is indeed a protection against in- 
 vaders for many months of the year, almost equal 
 to any batteries. 
 
 At last, however, the army moved ; not directly 
 across the country, as in the march which resulted 
 so badly at Bull Run, but b}^ steamboats and barges 
 down Chesapeake Bay, to land at Fort Monroe, op- 
 posite Norfolk, at the mouth of James River, and so 
 to drive the Rebels from Yorktown, — where Corn- 
 wall is surrendered eighty years before, — and then 
 to march up " the Peninsula," as it Avas called, to 
 attack Richmond from the east. 
 
 The " Peninsula " means the peninsula between 
 James River and York River. It was the country 
 first settled in America. In one of Captain John 
 Smith's letters, written from the infant colony at 
 the old Jamestown, he says it is all of America that 
 
32 STOIUE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 there will ever be any need to settle, and proposes 
 to build a line of little forts across the isthmus, to 
 keep out the Indians forever from it. It was in the 
 swamps of the Chickahominy that he was lost 
 when the Indians took him prisoner, and where he 
 pretended that Pocahontas rescued him. She was 
 then a child, seven years old. In these same 
 swamps McClellan's army encamped, and here 
 were the "battles of the six days" fought. These 
 were battles in which he withdrew his army from 
 that side of Richmond, after many severe fights 
 before that city, and changed the base of his sup- 
 plies from the York River to the James. That 
 means, that he received his supplies afterward by 
 James River. 
 
 General Mc Clellan's own report of these move- 
 ments makes a book much larger than this which 
 you are reading. Horace and Walter were very 
 much interested in it, and for a while they became 
 very strong " McClellanites." They said that no 
 novel had scenes so pathetic as his descriptions of 
 his disappointments when troops were withheld 
 that he hoped for, or ordered away from him to 
 the defence of Washington when he needed them 
 for attack. But other readers and other people 
 have not greatly praised him. 
 
 Here is the detail of the success in West Virginia, 
 by which he earned his command. You will see 
 that, if he had had his way, the victory would not 
 have been won. 
 
WEST VIRGINIA. 33 
 
 THE DEATH OF GARNETT IN WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 And for nearly a week, we watched this road to the 
 north, and those to the right and left, along the north face 
 of the mountain, as ordered b^' McClellan ; it being 
 understood (as was stated by him) that he was to take 
 care of the road south, over the mountain ; by which road 
 Garnett eventuall}^ escaped. We had dail}' skirmish- 
 ing, — now and then a man killed, and some two to five 
 wounded each day, on either side, — for the five or six 
 days w^e la}" there ; from time to time routing out Gar- 
 nett's camp with our artillerj^, which I had placed on 
 the different near hills as they could reach him. This 
 continued until about seven, on the morning of the 
 12th of July ; when a sergeant of the command (a 
 preacher at home) , who had been on picket, (or scout- 
 ing on his own account,) came rushing into Morris's 
 head-quarters at Ehot's House, crying out, "They are 
 gone, the}^ are all gone ! We can see no one in their 
 camp." I mounted at once, and went forward to Gar- 
 nett's camp, reconnoitring carefully as we came near, 
 and entered the works, which I found were in a con- 
 tinuous line from the woods at the north to the moun- 
 tain on the west. I there saw manifest signs of their 
 leaving in great haste. Man}" articles of A-alue, even, 
 had been abandoned, and much that was useful. I sent 
 back at once to request that General Morris would send 
 forward two regiments, and a wagon-load or two of bis- 
 cuit, for the pursuit. And while waiting for these in 
 Garnett's camp, about nine a. m., I received from 
 General Morris an order sent to him by General McClel- 
 lan, informing him of the rout of Pegram, and forbid- 
 ding him to attack Garnett. 
 
 As soon as the first regiment arrived, we started to 
 go over the Laurel Mountain, and reach the south side, 
 about three or four miles distant, between one and two 
 p. M. Here General Morris joined us ; and, after re- 
 maining an hour or so, he returned to camp to bring up 
 
 3 
 
34 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 the rest of his men. But he directed me not to move 
 from that position until he rejoined us, as he expected 
 to some time that afternoon. 
 
 About nine or ten p. m. General Morris joined us, 
 and was quite indignant at INIilroy's disobedience, say- 
 ing he should not lead the march in the pursuit on the 
 next da}^ to punish him for this disobedience of his 
 order ; by which he had found everything — artiller}', 
 wagons, and all — were in the greatest confusion on 
 this narrow mountain-path at midnight. 
 
 About ten p. m. orders came from McClellan, then 
 at Beverly (in response to my report) , for us to pursue 
 with the earliest light, and stating that General Hill 
 had orders sent him to intercept Garnett where he was 
 expected to pass at the "Red House," near Oakland, 
 some twenty-five or thirty miles to the northeast of us. 
 
 At daylight of the 13tli, I started in command of the 
 advance column, .... there being some eighteen hun- 
 dred men in all. On reaching New Interest, at six to 
 seven a. m., we began to find the camp equipage scat- 
 tered along the road; first tent-poles, then tents, and 
 then camp furniture. And soon we made sure that 
 Garnett had turned off over a winding, hilly road, to 
 his right, which passed over several mountain spurs to 
 branches of the Cheat River, and led to the village of 
 St. Georges, some fifteen to twenty miles to the north- 
 east, on its right bank ; and, later, we found, as we 
 entered this mountain road, that the more valuable 
 camp furniture was then being left behind, and among 
 the first (probably as an example) , the fine camp-stools, 
 &c. (as marked) of General Garnett himself. We 
 then came upon barricades of trees felled across the 
 roads upon the mountain slopes, and at all defiles and 
 steep "hill-sides": some eighteen or twenty such ob- 
 structions, from eighty to three hundred 3'ards in extent 
 on the road, were encountered in the march of some 
 eight to ten miles over two spurs of the mountains. 
 The Rebels, fortunately for us, left their axes as they 
 
WEST VIRGINIA. 35 
 
 fled from our aclYance skirmishers, sometimes b}' twos 
 and threes, struck into the trees woodman-hke, some- 
 times by the boxful even ; and thus we were soon 
 enabled, with our Western woodsnaen, to clear these 
 roads even for our artiller}^ : so that, when we eventu- 
 alh' reached the Cheat River, near noon, our guns joined 
 our advance regiment (Steedman's) within twent}' to 
 thirt}^ minutes after. 
 
 On this route, about ten to eleven a. m., after passing 
 the second mountain spur, we came upon the last camp 
 of Garnett, deserted in such haste that the provisions 
 were actuall}' cooking upon the fires, and were soon de- 
 voured by our half-famished men 
 
 About ten to eleven a. m. we came upon some wag- 
 ons loaded with clothing, drab overcoats, &c. ; with 
 which I at once equipped our advance skirmishers, to 
 deceive the enemy, as well as to protect ourselves from 
 the violent storm which had been raging for several 
 hours We finally discovered the Rebel wagon- 
 train resting in a field in the river-bottom, about five 
 hundred 3'ards in advance, and apparently entirel}' un- 
 suspicious of our approach. I at once directed Colonel 
 Steedman, as soon as he could learn that our guns were 
 near his regiment, and Dumont well up behind them, 
 that he should cross carefuU}^ ; and, passing along by 
 the road on the right bank, as it curved to our left, and 
 was screened by the thick trees and bushes on the right 
 of this road, he was to endeavor to pass to the right and 
 rear of their wagons, without, as appeared possible, his 
 being discovered. 
 
 These guns of Barnett were reported to be well up, 
 and Dumont just behind them, read}' to close in some 
 fifteen or twent}' minutes after ; and the movement of 
 Steedman commenced with every prospect of his getting 
 to their rear unseen, and of capturing the whole train, 
 as he moved with much boldness and discretion. But 
 at this juncture a scoundrel straggler, who had crossed 
 without permission, fired ofi" his musket in the air, 
 towards the wagon-train, as I could only suppose on 
 
36 STORIEWTOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 purpose to drive them forward, and avoid a fight. I 
 endeavored to gallop over him with my horse ; but he 
 escaped down the steep bank into the river. But the 
 enemy's train, for this time, was saved ; for we saw the 
 wagons move on immediately after, and then two lines 
 of infantr}- draw out to protect them ; .and they. started 
 on the run for the next ford. 
 
 I delayed Steedman there until most of our troops 
 had closed up ; and then we moved on as rapidly as 
 possible, crossing this second ford after covering with 
 our fire the adjacent hills to prevent a suspected ambus- 
 cade. And about two miles farther on, from a high 
 hill, we came in sight of their regiments, on a regular 
 run, and so near, that I ordered up the guns, directing 
 the vis a tergo of a few discharges to expedite their 
 movement, already characterized by one of our Western 
 captains as a '' long dog-trot." 
 
 This force was still followed as rapidly as possible ; 
 although two messages had already reached me from 
 General Morris, each with a contingency, fortunatel}", 
 '' to stop the pursuit." I had the first message before I 
 came to the first ford : it was brought by young Pritch- 
 ard (son of lieutenant-colonel of Sixth Indiana), who 
 had been sent back with the ^rst flag, captured, as it 
 was, under my horse's feet. This order required, that, 
 if I " was not sure of reaching the enemy within two or 
 three hours," I ''must halt, and rest nr\' men." The 
 second message, by Sergeant-Major Fletcher of the 
 Sixth Indiana, directed me to stop, and rest my men, 
 unless I " was immediately upon the enem}'." A third, 
 by General Morris's aid (Lieut. Hines) , reached me as 
 I was arranging for action at Corrick's Ford, and was, 
 to "stop at once, unless" I "was ready to strike"; 
 to which m}' reply simply was, " AYait five minutes!" 
 General Morris afterwards told me, another (a fourth) 
 message had been sent, — a positive order to stop at 
 once (and, as I understood, by Whitelaw Reid, a Cin- 
 cinnati reporter) ; but, as the General said, "This was 
 not delivered, as you were found to be fighting." These 
 
WEST VIRGINIA. 37 
 
 orders were sent because General Morris had seen only 
 the stragglers who ' • fell by the wayside " ; while I had 
 the " whalebone " with me. 
 
 Our march thus continued for about three miles from 
 the second ford, till we came to another field of river- 
 bottom land, and another ford. Here we saw that the 
 Rebel troops had crossed, and that a part of their train 
 was in the river, apparently balked ; and we soon found 
 that they were making dispositions to defend this train, 
 from the steep, elevated ground (about sixty to eighty 
 feet above the river) on the opposite side ; the river be- 
 ing some hundred and twent}^ 3'ards wide and three feet 
 deep at this ford. 
 
 The advance regiments (Steedman's and next Du- 
 mont's), with Barnett's artillery, were soon arranged 
 along the river-bank, behind a rail fence, partiall}^ cov- 
 ered by a slight screen of trees ; and our fire first 
 opened at them across the river upon their more advan- 
 tageous position ; and I coukl not force our gallant fel- 
 lows, so unused to the danger, to take the slight cover 
 of the bank of an old channel-wa}', a few rods in their 
 rear, — a cover such as before the war closed, however, 
 with just as much of braver}^, our men, on other fields, 
 had learned to appreciate, and to seize on all occasions. 
 We received a strong rausketr3-fire in return ; and soon 
 their cannon opened on us, with the usual effect, or 
 rather non-effect, from a much more elevated position, 
 fortunately for us, for the most part ; and we replied 
 more effectively with our riflemen and artillery. As, 
 however, in the course of some ten to fifteen minutes, I 
 discovered a break in the hill on their left, which indi- 
 cated an easier ascent than by the steep bank in our 
 front, I sent orders to Dumont to cross at our right, 
 and move up this valley-gorge to attack them. This 
 was soon proved to be impossible, (as I found after- 
 wards, this slope was strewn with dead cedars,) and 
 the steepness was too great direct^ in front. I saw 
 the men flat on the ground, endeavoring to crawl up 
 the bank ; and Colonel Milroy, who followed Dumont 
 
38 
 
 STORIE^^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 closch', rode np to me, and reported the hill to be en- 
 tirely impracticable. I sent word by him to Dnmont to 
 go down the river with his regiment, and to hug the 
 cover of the bank, on the side of the enemy : and that 
 he would certainly find the road below them, opposite 
 our left. The firing still continued for some fifteen to 
 twent}" minutes longer, between our main body and the 
 Rebels on the hill ; our men picking off their gunners 
 whenever seen through the branches of the trees. And 
 at length I saw the men of Dumont moving down as 
 directed, mitil they passed the Rebel front at the foot 
 of the bank, and turned inland, to the right of the 
 eneni}^, bringing themselves at once in rear of their posi- 
 tion ; when the Rebels hastily retreated past the next 
 ford, some five hundred yards distant, leaving their 
 cannon, and their dead and w^onnded, behind them. 
 And they were closely followed by Dumont's regiment 
 skirmishing in their rear. 
 
 At about the time of this retreat of the enemy from 
 his position on the hill, the leading regiment (the Sixth 
 Indiana) of General Morris's main column, which had 
 hurried np, hearing the firing, joined us, though too late 
 to share in the action. 
 
 I crossed over immediately after Dumont's success, 
 finding twent3^-two heavily-loaded wagons stalled in the 
 river, and a like number in the roadway made through 
 an impracticable laurel-thicket on the other side, — all 
 with their horses and harnesses attached. And ascend- 
 ing b}' the rear, to the plateau they had just occupied, 
 we found their cannon and caisson, with the dead gun- 
 ners (seven or eight men) lying around the piece, 
 mostly shot in the head, some directly above the mouth, 
 the only sight our men had being through the bush 
 embrasures. 
 
 The i)osition Garnett had selected here was one of 
 the best natural defensive sites I ever saw. It was a 
 cleared field of some two hundred 3'ards square, with a 
 steep bank sixty to eighty feet down to the river. The 
 
WEST VIRGINIA. 39 
 
 bank was coyered with thick undergrowth, and fringed 
 at the top with trees whose branches had been cut away 
 to give firing views, — embrasures, in fact, for their 
 guns. On their left, a steep ravine of a V cross-section, 
 filled with dead cedars, as stated, protected them, as 
 we had found, complete!}' from assault ; and on their 
 right flank, as this plateau dropped to near the river 
 level, they were covered by the broad laurel- thicket, im- 
 practicable to man or beast, even to the smaller animals, 
 except b}' roadways cut through by the axe. 
 
 While examining the dead at this position, Major 
 Gordon (just recentl}^ sergeant-major of the Ninth Indi- 
 ana) came up to me, asking if I knew Garnett, sa3ing 
 an officer had just been killed at the next near ford, 
 who had " stars on his shoulders." I at once accompa- 
 nied him, crossing the ford; and, about twenty j^ards 
 beyond, I found the Rebel general, R. S. Garnett, lying 
 dead, and near him the bod}' of a young lad, in the uni- 
 form of the Georgia troops (gray with black facings, 
 like that of our Indiana regiments) . No other signs of 
 strife were near ; and I learned that they had been killed 
 from a clump of bushes on our side the river-bank, by 
 the fire, at about the same time, of three of our ad- 
 vanced scouts. Recognizing Garnett at once, who, six 
 years before, received the majority I had declined in the 
 Ninth U. S. Infantry, I had Major Gorflon remove and 
 take care of his sword, watch, and purse (of Confede- 
 rate mone}') , reserving for our use, as much needed, a 
 fine map of Virginia, and his field-glass. 
 
 The killed and wounded on our side were limited to 
 five or six onl}', as they mostly fired upon us down hill. 
 Of the Rebels we found about fifteen bodies, and some 
 twenty to thirty wounded. There were also taken three 
 flags, a fine rifled cannon, a military chest with bank 
 money ready for signing, and — besides a large amount 
 of valuable private property — the train to the number 
 of forty-four heavily-loaded wagons, with their horses 
 and harnesses even (some hundred and fifty to two hun- 
 
40 STOni^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 dred in all) ; and, in the pursuit next da^- and the day 
 after, about fifteen more loaded wagons were captured, 
 or about sixt}' in all. They were loaded with clothing, 
 blankets, tents, &c., and at an estimated value, as far 
 as w^e could judge, of at least some two hundred and 
 fift}^ thousand dollars. The quartermaster at the Graf- 
 ton depot afterwards told me, that there had reached 
 that station, within the next two or three weeks (and 
 by difiicult or mountain roads) , an amount of property 
 worth at least a hundred thousand dollars. And this 
 was after weeks of plundering b^^ the occupants of the 
 adjacent farms, and after nearly all the horses and large 
 amounts of other propert}', as I was told, had been run 
 across the Ohio River, b}' these retiring troops, whose 
 three months of ser^ice expired, for the most part, 
 within one or two weeks after this ! 
 the first campaign in West Virginia. 
 
 The report of the action was written and sent to 
 General McClellan from Corrick's House, on the morn- 
 ing of the 14th, and received by him at Huttonsville, 
 Va., about thirt3'-tive miles southeast, at "eleven 
 p. M." ; when he at once telegraphed this success to 
 Washington in glowing colors. 
 
 Upon the evening of the IGth, Major Marc}', chief of 
 staflT of General McClellan, came to Eliot's {en route to 
 Washington) with McClellan's reports, and the flags 
 from Phihppi, and requiring also those just captured, 
 which, being still with the regiments in camp, he would 
 not w^ait for, but ordered to be '' sent express to Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 Major Marcy had with hira at this time four flags that 
 had been captured at Philippi, which, with considerable 
 difficulty and management, I had recovered from the 
 colonels of the regiments who had them, and sent to 
 General McClellan some time previously. One of them, 
 I recollect, was an elegant green silk cavahy flag, or 
 guidon, with gold bullion tassels and fringe, that had 
 within the week been presented to the Highland Guards 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 41 
 
 hy the ladies of Highland Comity ; when the captain, 
 as we were told, had promised ''to defend that flag 
 with the last drop of his blood," &c. I presume, how- 
 ever, he forgot his promise, as no one was killed in this 
 rout. As this banner had on it in gold letters the 
 motto, "God defend the right," I had the pleasure, 
 soon after, of sending word to the ladies of Higjiland 
 Count}^ ' ' that God had heard and answered their 
 pra3'er." 
 
 Of the three flags taken at Corrick's Ford, one was a 
 large flag of Colonel Tahaferro's Twenty-third Virginia 
 Regiment ; another was a silk flag of Colonel Ramsej^'s 
 Georgia Regiment ; and the third, taken just after the 
 action, was an elegant white silk color, with silver tas- 
 sels and fringe, and over the arms of Georgia the motto, 
 " Cotton is king," surmounting the temple. This beau- 
 tiful and unique banner has proved too much for the 
 honest}^ of some of the people about the White House 
 or the War Department ; for in the winter of 1863 and 
 1864, when I found most of these other flags in the War- 
 Offlce, this white banner had disappeared, as had also 
 the green silk cavalry guidon taken at Philippi. 
 
 Major Marcy proceeded to Washington, reaching 
 there a day or two before the defeat of Bull Run, and 
 at a most fortunate moment, as it proved, for himself 
 and his chief; for though it is certain, I believe, that 
 neither McClellan nor any of his staff' (not on detached 
 service) had been within the range of a hostile cannon, 
 if they had even heard its sound, in all these actions 
 and skirmishes, yet within that week McClellan's chief 
 of staff, Major Marc}^ was made Inspector-General, and 
 McClellan himself the Major-General and active chief of 
 our whole army. — Gen. H. W. Benham. 
 
 When McClellan advanced up the Peninsula, 
 the first resistance was made at Yorktown, the 
 same place which Lord Cornwallis held. 
 
42 STORTES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 THE REBEL ARMY AT YORKTOWN. 
 
 It is clear that the forces stationed here had more 
 than enough to eat, — man}" luxuries, — and were pro- 
 vided for in all that was necessarj' for mere canip com- 
 fort, such as it is. The whole place is strewed with 
 heaps of oyster-shells, empty bottles, and cans of pre- 
 served fruit and vegetables, and, strange to sa}', there 
 are an enormous number of sardine-boxes lying around. 
 Privates and all seemed to have enjoyed the luxury of 
 sardines in profusion. The}^ had the excellent Rich- 
 mond flour, from the Gallego mills, and Louisville packed 
 beef and pork. Their exit was so sudden that their 
 bread was left in their kneading-troughs, their pork over 
 the fire, and biscuits half baked ; but attempts were 
 made, more or less general!}', to spoil the food. Here 
 and there a bottle of turpentine or some other vile fluid 
 was emptied over the food they could not take. The 
 tents are standing, but are slashed by knives. 
 
 The equipments and clothing of the rebel dead were 
 of the most miserable kind. No attempt at uniformity 
 of dress could be seen. Here and there some officer had 
 a flannel stripe sewed to his pantaloons. Their buttons 
 were simple bone and black fly buttons, such as are 
 used for waistcoats. Here and there an officer had a 
 gilt or United States artillery button. The men were 
 dressed in common linsey butternut, and cotton suits, 
 of the commonest and coarsest materials. They had 
 few knapsacks, being generally supplied wnth a school- 
 boy's satchel, sometimes of flimsy leather, but more 
 commonly of cotton osnaburg, with here and there a 
 rope to sling over the shoulders. Immense numbers of 
 these were scattered about the woods, generally contain- 
 ing a few articles of clothins; and a hoe-cake. — Boston 
 Journal Correspondence. 
 
 'o 
 
 TAKEN" AKD LEFT. 
 
 In the course of the guerilla fighting of course there 
 were many very singular scenes. Captain Montgomery, 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 43 
 
 General Newton's Chief of Staff, and Lieutenant Baker, 
 of General Franklin's staff, ventured too far into the 
 woods and soon found themselves close up with the 
 Hampton Legion. A question put by one of them 
 revealed their character, and instantly a number of 
 muskets were discharged at them. Lieutenant Baker 
 escaped ; Captain Montgomery's horse, pierced by half 
 a dozen bullets, fell with his rider. The Captain feigned 
 dead, but when the rebels commenced robbing his body, 
 he was moved to come to life, and to give the Seces- 
 sionists the benefit of some testamentar}^ opinions, — as 
 Mr. Choate said when he spoke in behalf of the remains 
 of the Whig party. Just at that moment a shell from one 
 of our batteries — which I can't undertake to sa}^ as the 
 officers of three companies have positively assured me 
 that the}^ did it — burst upon the party. Then the cry 
 was raised, "Shoot the Yankee!" "Wherefore?" 
 queried the Captain, "I did n't fire the shell." Then 
 another shell, — whereupon the whole party skedaddled, 
 Rebels in one direction, and the Captain in the other. — • 
 Capt. Montgomery. 
 
 CAPTURING A GUN. 
 
 There is an old chap in the Berdan Sharp-shooters, 
 near Yorktown, known as "Old Seth." He is quite a 
 character, and is a crack shot, one of the best in the 
 regiment. His " instrument," as he terms it, is one of 
 the heaviest telescopic rifles. The other night at roll- 
 call. Old Seth non est. This was somewhat unusual, 
 as the old chap was always up to time. A sergeant went 
 out to hunt him up, being somewhat fearful that the old 
 man had been hit. After perambulating around in the 
 advance of the picket-line, he heard a low " hollo." 
 "Who's there?" inquired the sergeant. "It's me," 
 responded Seth, "and I've captured a Secesh gun." 
 " Bring it in," said the sergeant. " Can't do it," ex- 
 claimed Seth. 
 
 It soon became apparent to the sergeant, that Old 
 
44 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Setli had the exact range of one of the enem5'*s 
 heaviest guns, and they could not load it for fear of 
 being picked off by him. Again the old man shouted . 
 " Fetch me a couple of haversacks full of grub, as this 
 is my gun, and the cussed varmints sha'n't fire it again 
 while the scrimmage lasts." This was done, and the old 
 patriot has kept good watch over that gun. In fact, it 
 is a "captured gun." — N. T. ^Mhune. 
 
 THE SIAMESE TWINS. 
 
 It is not often that two regiments, camping side by 
 side for months, fall desperately in love. On the con- 
 trarj^, quite the reverse. But between the Ninth Mas- 
 sachusetts and the Sixt3'-second Penns3'lvania there 
 exists a ver}^ romantic attachment. The shanty of 
 the Sixty-second is always open to the patronage of 
 the Ninth, however scanty may be its suppl}'. Does the 
 Sixty-second find itself short of provisions on a march ? 
 Every haversack in the Ninth is opened. The men of 
 the Ninth ma}^ pass through the camp of the Sixty- 
 second at all times, but when one of the Three Hundred 
 and Thirty- third New York, or an}' other man, comes 
 up to the lines, he is ordered awa3\ 
 
 ' ' How will we take Richmond ? " says one of the 
 Sixt3'-second the other day. " Why, don't you know? 
 The Sixty-two-th will fire, and the Ninth will charge ! " — 
 Boston Journal. 
 
 FRIENDLY PICKETING. 
 
 We were stationed on Warwick Creek, and the. 
 enem3^'s pickets were on the opposite side, about six 
 hundred 3'ards above. The3^ kept up a constant fire 
 during the afternoon, and the w^iy some of their bullets 
 whistled past our heads, if we poked them from behind 
 a tree, inclined us to believe that the3^ had good arms, 
 and understood their use. Our orders were not to fire 
 back, but, in violation of orders, a straj^ shot would 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 45 
 
 I 
 
 ' once in a while find its way to the opposite side, to let 
 
 them know that we still lived. This firing was kept up 
 until dark when the tongue superseded the rifle. Now 
 came the tug of war. Epithets were hurled spitefnlly 
 across Warwick's turbid waters. The burden of their 
 song appeared to be, " We will give you Bull Run." 
 "What do you think of Corinth?" "You can have 
 Yorktown if 3'ou can take it." " You are five to one, 
 but you can't whip us " ; — to which latter accusation one 
 of our bo3's replied that it was so, as it took four Yan- 
 kees to catch one of them for one of us to whip. They 
 finall}' came to the conclusion, the}- could not out-talk 
 us in that st3de, so they tried another tack, made all 
 manner of inquiries, of how we lived, what State we 
 were from, etc. They informed us that the}" were from 
 South Carolina, and if we would not fire upon them in 
 the morning, they would come out and talk with us. 
 
 Morning came, and with it a friendly conversation, 
 at first under cover of trees ; and as the}- gained confi- 
 dence, both parties came out from cover. They told 
 us that they lived principally upon fresh meat and 
 " sponge," — soft bread ; " shingles " — hard bread — 
 had played out with them. Salt was not within their 
 limits, it being twent}^ dollars a sack. Coffee could not 
 be got, — it being a luxmy not enjo^^ed b}'- a soldier. 
 We asked them if the}^ had any " salt-junk." No, 
 the}' had not got down to pickled mule yet. — A Fall 
 River Soldier. 
 
 The " change of base " closed in the battle of 
 Malvern Hill. Here is General McClellan's own 
 account of it, and there follows the narrative of an 
 artillery officer. 
 
 GEN. McCL-ELLAN's ACCOUNT OF MALVERN HILL. 
 
 The position selected for resisting the further advance 
 of the enemy, on the 1st of July, was with the left and 
 
46 STOniJ^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 centre of our lines resting on Malvern Hill, v,h\\e the 
 right curved backward through a wooded country toward 
 a point below Haxall's, on James River. Malvern Hill 
 is an elevated plateau, about a mile and a half by three 
 fourths of a mile in area, well cleared of timber, and 
 with several converging roads running over it. ■ In front 
 are numerous defensible ravines, and the ground slopes 
 gradually to the north and east to the woodland, giving 
 clear range for artillery in those directions. Toward 
 the northwest the plateau falls off more abruptly into a 
 ravine which extends to James River. From the posi- 
 tion of the enemy his most obvious line of attack would 
 be from the direction of Richmond and White-Oak 
 Swamp, and would almost of necessity strike in upon 
 the left wing. Here, therefore, the lines were strength- 
 ened by massing the troops and collecting the principal 
 part of the artillery. Porter's corps held the left of the 
 line, — Sykes's division on the left, Morrell's on the 
 right, — with the artillery of his two divisions advanta- 
 geousl}' posted, and the artillery of the reserve so dis- 
 posed on the high ground that a concentrated fire of some 
 sixt}' guns could be brought to bear on an}- point in his 
 front or left. Colonel Tyler had also, with great exer- 
 tion, succeeded in getting two of his siege-guns in posi- 
 tion on the highest part of the hill. Couch's division 
 was placed on the right of Porter's ; next came Kearney 
 and Hooker ; next Sedgwick and Richardson ; next 
 Smith and Slocum ; then the remainder of Kej'es's corps, 
 extending b}' a backward curve nearl}' to the river. 
 The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps was held in reserve, 
 and stationed behind Porter's and Couch's position. 
 One brigade of Porter's w^as thrown to the left, on the 
 low ground, to protect that flank from an}' movement 
 direct from the Richmond road. The line was very 
 strong along the whole front of the upper plateau, but 
 thence to the extreme right, the troops were more de- 
 ployed. This formation was imperative, as an attack 
 would probably be made upon our left. The right was 
 rendered as secure as possible by slashing the timbers, 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 47 
 
 and by barricading the roads. Commodore Rodgers, 
 commanding the flotilla on James River, placed his gun- 
 boats so as to protect our flanks, and to command the 
 approaches from Richmond. Between nine and ten 
 A.M., the eneni}' commenced feeling along our whole 
 left wing with his artillery and skirmishers, as far to the 
 right as Hooker's division. About two o'clock a column 
 of the enemj- was observed moving toward our right, 
 with the skirt of woods in front of Heintzelman's corps, 
 but bej'ond the range of artillery. Arrangements w^ere 
 at once made to meet the anticipated attack in that 
 quarter, but though the column was long, occupying 
 more than two hours in passing, it disappeared, and was 
 not again heard of. The presumption is, that it retired 
 by the rear, and participated in the attack afterwards 
 made on our left. About three p.m., a heavy fire of 
 artillery opened on Kearne3''s left and Couch's division, 
 speedil}' followed up by a brisk attack of infantry on 
 Couch's front. The artillery was replied to with good 
 effect by our own, and the infantry of Conch's division 
 remained lying on the ground until the advancing col- 
 umn was within short musket range, when they sprang 
 to their feet and poured in a deadl}^ volley, which en- 
 tirel}^ broke the attacking force, and drove them in dis- 
 order back on their own ground. This advantage was 
 followed up until we had advanced the right of our lines 
 some seven or eight hundred 3-ards, and rested upon a 
 thick clump of trees, giving us a stronger position and 
 a better fire. Shortly after four o'clock, the firing 
 ceased along the whole front, but no disposition was 
 evinced on the part of the enem}'- to withdraw from the 
 field. Caldwell's brigade, having been detached from, 
 Richardson's division, was stationed upon Couch's right 
 by General Porter, to whom he had been ordered to re- 
 port. The whole line was survej^ed by the General, 
 and ever3'thing held in readiness to meet the coming 
 attack. At six o'clock the enemy suddenly opened 
 upon Couch and Porter with the whole strength of his 
 artillery, and at once began pushing forward his column 
 
48 STORI^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 of attack, to cany the hill. Brigade after brigade 
 formed under cover of the woods, started at a run to 
 cross the open space, and charged our batteries ; but 
 the heav}' lire of our guns, and the cool and steady 
 volleys of our infantr}', in every case, sent them reeling 
 back to shelter, and covered the ground with their dead 
 •and wounded. In several instances our infantr}^ with- 
 held their fire until the attacking columns, which rushed 
 through the storm of canister and shell from our artil- 
 lery, had reached within a few yards of our lines. 
 They then poured^ in a single volley, and dashed for- 
 ward with the baj'onet, capturing prisoners and colors, 
 and driA'ing the routed columns in confusion from the 
 field. About seven o'clock, as fresh troops were accu- 
 mulating in front of Porter and Couch, Meagher and 
 Sickles were sent with their brigades, as soon as it was 
 considered prudent to withdraw any portion of Sumner's 
 and Heintzelman's troops, to reinforce that part of the 
 line, and hold the positions. These brigades relieved 
 such portions of Porter's corps and Couch's division as 
 had expended their ammunition, and batteries from the 
 reserve w^ere pushed forward to replace those whose 
 boxes were empty. Until dark the enem}' persisted in 
 his efforts to take the position so tenaciously'' defended ; 
 but despite his vast numbers, his repeated and desper- 
 ate attacks were repulsed with fearful loss, and dark- 
 ness ended the battle of Malvern Hill, though it was 
 not until after nine o'clock that the artiller}- ceased its 
 fire. During the whole. Commodore liodgers added 
 greatly to the discomfiture of the enem}^ b}' throwing 
 shells among his reserves and advancing columns. As 
 .the arm}', in its movement from the Chickahominy to 
 Harrison's Landing, was continuall}' occupied in march- 
 ing b}' night and fighting by day, its commanders found 
 no opportunit}' for collecting data which would enable 
 them to give exact returns of casualties in each engage- 
 ment. — JlcClellan's Official Report. 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 49 
 
 THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, AS SEEN BY AN 
 OFFICER OF ARTILLERY. 
 
 The July sun shone clear and bright over Malvern 
 Hill, — in the words of General MeClellan's Report, 
 *' an elevated platean abont a mile and a half b}' three 
 fourths of a mile in area." Throngh this plain ran the 
 road from White-Oak Swamp and the Chickahominj^ 
 region, along which the Rebel advance would come. 
 To the left, much below the plateau on which the Mal- 
 vern mansion-house stood, was the Richmond road, and 
 to the left and rear, by Turkey Island Bend, the James 
 River was laid like a bed of silver under the warm 
 morning sun. AYoods skirted the northern side of these 
 fields, and about two thirds of a mile from this boundary 
 our main line of defence was posted. Here the light 
 field-batteries were stationed, with their infantry sup- 
 ports lying on the ground between their several posi- 
 tions. The earth swelled up to this line, then fell gently, 
 northerly' and through the open plain rising again to- 
 ward the line of woods. But the woods were some- 
 what lower than the swell on which the guns stood, thus 
 giving the vantage, so dear to the artillery, of a slightly 
 plunging fire. This position was on the left of the Chick- 
 ahomin}' road, and was held by Porter's Fifth Corps. On 
 the right of the road the woods intruded more upon the 
 position, and Couch held this ground, looking rather 
 obliquely toward the main field, where the brunt of the 
 Rebel attack afterwards was felt. Porter's troops had 
 been severely punished at Gaines's Mills, and, smarting 
 under this defeat, they were in a good fighting mood, 
 though the}' had lost heavil}'. * 
 
 We, that is Porter's corps, had bivouacked on the 
 hill near Malvern House, and his arrangements were 
 made after an earl}' breakfast. McClellan with his staff 
 and General Barnard rode over the field, and inspected 
 the order of battle, as the corps commanders and en- 
 gineers had laid it out. " Very well, Fitz," (i. e. Fitz 
 
 4 
 
50 STOni^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 John Porter,) " there will be some axes np presently, 
 and you may cut and slash wherever you please." This 
 was said in the familiar, almost affectionate tone he 
 used with the old West Point comrades whom he knew, 
 and who trusted in him. INIcClellan never lost his hold 
 npon the affections of the Army of the Potomac, an or- 
 ganization which grew np under his forming hand. 
 
 The General's counsel referred to some timber upon 
 the left, which was soon " slashed " to prevent the enemy 
 from turning the position by a flank attack. 
 
 It is hard to comprehend that, while you have a new 
 w^orld created on the moment within the lines of 3'our 
 own army, there is just beyond the skirmish lines and 
 pickets another world, — your enemy's, — differing from 
 and yet very like to 3^our own. While we had been 
 marching up the above-mentioned road and spreading 
 our lines for miles on either side the main field, — much 
 as if a lobster should spread his claws, then convert his 
 tail into more claws spreading wider and wider, — the 
 enem}^ had been busy within his territor}'. Between 
 these two sections, busy with life and action, there is a 
 debatable land, dark under the coming storm-cloud, 
 quiet amid the forces hurrying on either side, heavy with 
 the mists of death. 
 
 The skirmishers are men deploj^ed at wide intervals, 
 elastic feelers the arm}- puts forth, to meet — it knows 
 not what. The assailants push, the defenders recoil, 
 until the main bod}' receives them, and feels the force of 
 the attacking part}'. About nine o'clock we felt the 
 enemy's approach, and for five or six hours he was oc- 
 cupied in running his feelers along our lines, seeking 
 the weakest points, and making his dispositions of at- 
 tack. Meanwhile the gunboats from the James River 
 and our heavy guns posted in the rear threw great 
 shells over our heads. These shells sometimes acciden- 
 tally damaged ourselves, but generally they burst in the 
 woods where the Rebels were forming, or along the line 
 of their march, and with excellent effect. The direc- 
 tion of the fire was controlled b}' the Signal Corps. 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 51 
 
 " What did you do. in all these six hours? " That is 
 the hardest question of all. To be dressed for an even- 
 ing party and to wait a half-hour for the guests, is not 
 aasy ; to be read}' and to wait five or six hours, when 
 the guests bring Minies, and the chance of a bayonet- 
 thrust, tries all the powers of a man. The line of 
 privates were kept at their fixed posts ; the corapau}' of- 
 ficers must be near by ; the field-oflicei's took a httle 
 wider range ; general and staff officers strolled about at 
 will, when not busy with the minor details of the plan 
 of defence. Every bit of shade, a steep bank, closed 
 and deserted houses, fence covers, single trees, — each 
 became coignes of vantage where groups of waiting offi- 
 cers could while away the wearj' interval. Criticism of 
 battles and generals flies fast and furious. Men sore 
 with a week's fighting, or exhausted by night marches, 
 are not gentle in their estimates of men or things. 
 Ever}' incident is made much of. General Hooker 
 comes up the road with his staff. His reputation was 
 then making, and a bright halo rightly followed the ad- 
 mirable field-officer. He had not then been tried and 
 found wanting in the higher, the highest qualities of a 
 general. His presence, so gallant and soldier-like, was . 
 just becoming known through the whole army. "• That 
 man, — don't j'ou know Figliting Joe Hooker? Give 
 him a division, — he knows what to do with it. I like to 
 see a general who knows what he is about. 1 am sick 
 of the indecision of a man who is always puUing at his 
 whiskers." This allusion to the well-known habits of a 
 worthy and most respectable Brigadier, never born to 
 command, caused a general smile. The speaker never 
 criticised another battle, for at sunset he was wrapped 
 in his blanket. 
 
 What good fellows they were ! — Griffin with the best 
 " soldier's eye " ^ of them all, now in his first week with 
 his brigade ; Butterfield, the one volunteer who mas- 
 tered the technique of field tactics, even better than the 
 regulars did ; — and the Colonels, Wood bur}' of Michi- 
 1 Jomini thus characterizes the true soldierly intuition. 
 
52 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 gan, a tiglit-made red-bearded Saxon at the head of a 
 model regiment, and McQuaid, a soUd New-Yorker. 
 Cass, the Irish leader of a full Irish American regiment, 
 had fallen at Gaines's ; so had Gove, the thoroughly edu- 
 cated Massachusetts Colonel ; so had Black, of Penns}'!- 
 
 vania, with "Forward, 8ixt3'-ninth ! Ch " on his 
 
 lips. The awful word was never syllabled, and another 
 led his regiment to the charge. And among the lesser 
 officers, lesser in rank, but not in the importance of their 
 service, for they wielded the might}^ arm in this fight, 
 were the Lieutenants commanding batteries of held 
 artillery ; — Ames, one of the model officers from West 
 Point onward, Kingsbmy, and Hazlitt, — afterwards 
 killed at Antietam, now handling the old batter}^ of in- 
 struction from West Point, which Griffin had vacated 
 for his promotion to a brigade of infantry. AYaterman 
 of Rhode Island and Phillips of Massachusetts are 
 among the volunteers. Porter was himself an old offi- 
 cer of artiller}' ; he knew the latent power of that arm, 
 and to-day would use it to turn back the last attack Lee 
 and Jackson would have the strength to make. 
 
 There was a farm-house over on the left, and just in 
 rear of the line of batteries. - The ice-house had been 
 opened, a pitcher and glasses had been seized from the 
 household, abandoned by the housekeeper, and thirsty 
 w^arriors cooled themselves with the best of all drinks, 
 now made better and more precious by rarity. Even 
 whiskey or the strength-giving brandy could not com- 
 pete with ice-water here. Haversacks were opened, 
 and he who found a sandwich or a cold mutton-chop 
 was happy ; he who had hard-tack made the most of it. 
 
 The (lay w^ears on ; a bree'ze from the river tempers 
 the fierce heat of the Southern sun. The sound of our 
 great guns mingles with the scattering shots of skir- 
 mishers, and the stealth}^ bullets of Rebel sharp-shooters 
 now beginning to take efl'ect as the intervals lessened. 
 B}^ three o'clock the enemy had reached his positions, 
 and his artillery opened a brisk fire upon our right aud 
 centre. Almost immediately, the woods bordering oar 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 53 
 
 main field swarmed with gra}^ and butternut coats, and 
 regiments stepped briskly forward, firing as they 
 moved. Our batteries spoke quick and often. Shrap- 
 nell shells and case shot, fired with time fuses, burst 
 and scattered their bullets just in front of the advancing 
 ranks. Here and there a wide rent opens in the ordered 
 files ; it never closes, for another gap disorders the men 
 who would try to fill the first. On the left, where our 
 infantry are solid and not impeded b}' the artillery, the}' 
 move obliquely forward, and add their galling fire to the 
 crash of the shells from the guns. 
 
 I have said that the woods came forward nearer to 
 Couch, and his position obliqued somewhat upon the 
 main field of battle. His infantry were also bearing 
 upon the Rebel lines now coming from the woods and 
 seeking to push forward to the line of batteries on the 
 swell of ground which was the main position to be held. 
 Couch's men rushed gallantly forward, with shouts and 
 cheers, and went beyond the intended lines of defence. 
 The General, alert and brave, but cool, was not carried 
 away b}' the enthusiasm. After the enem}'' were re- 
 pulsed, riding up, and switching his horse with a little 
 stick, he said eagerly, "That charge was all wrong! 
 Captain, if I am killed, be sure to say that I never com- 
 manded that movement." 
 
 No troops can stand such a fire, and the Rebel 
 brigades fell back under the cover of the woods after 
 half an hour or more of courageous effort. They came 
 out singl}^ and picked up the wounded. On our side 
 we had not as yet suffered much. This was a smart 
 little action, but oiAy the prelude to the battle of Mal- 
 vern Hill. 
 
 Comrades now meet again and exchange experiences. 
 The different arms congratulate each other for deeds, 
 observed perhaps better from points a little distant 
 from their actual occurrence. The jealousies of camp 
 life melt away in the more cordial service of the field ; 
 the three arms become as one in supporting the whole 
 body. The cavalry is the wings and eyes of the army. 
 
54 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 The infantiy is the back-bone, the enduring frame, the 
 ready fingers which never fail in the constant service 
 required of it. On its firm courage and patient endu- 
 rance the final success of all troops and of ever}^ cam- 
 paign must depend. But in certain contingencies, not 
 many, but important, the artillery becomes the leading 
 arm, and turns the fortune of the da}'. When a great 
 force is to be concentrated on one point, either for at- 
 tack or defence, then the power of guns and the skill of 
 the men who handle them become conspicuous. 
 
 There was no better soldier on the field than Colonel 
 Woodbury, commanding the Fourth Michigan regiment. 
 We met in this pause. '' Now, Colonel, you see what the 
 artiller}' can do ! " " Yes, I am glad to see an artillery 
 fight. I never saw the power of field guns before." 
 At sunset his body was borne to the rear, and two daj^s 
 after, his spirited little bay, christened " Bab}'," was 
 sent to his widow, sorrowing in her home at the West. 
 
 The field was now comparatively quiet, but not com- 
 fortable. The gun-boats had ceased firing as the lines 
 joined battle. The Rebels had crept up and gained 
 little points of cover, from which sharp-shooters might 
 give 3'ou that most miserable of deaths by one single 
 assassinating bullet. An officer would hardly lift his 
 field-glass when "whizz" would sing a minie, — " phft" 
 it would thud into the brown earth, and a tiny column 
 of dust would mark the spot. This was not pleasant. 
 
 Lee's arm}', as well as McClellan's, had been roughly 
 handled in the half-dozen engagements of the week. 
 Magruder's and Huger's divisions were fresh, and they 
 meant to carry Malvern Hill by fiery valor and the 
 sheer force of their onset. All the afternoon their 
 troops were massing, and our infantry sent us word that 
 the rebels w^ere bringing up batteries in the woods 
 directly on our left front. We began to shell the 
 woods. Soon their guns opened fire from the shelter 
 of the trees bordering the main field, where the first 
 attack had been repulsed. This artillery fire was in- 
 tended to cover and assist Magruder's fiual attack. It 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 55 
 
 was a prett}^ range, hardly twelve hnnclred 3'ards. Our 
 shells burst regularly, sometimes at the very muzzles of 
 their guns, now marked b}^ their own surging smoke. 
 
 The sun's ravs were drooping, but at six o'clock 
 there was time to win or lose a battle. The masses of 
 men who had been gathering opposite the main field 
 poured out from the woods. Regiments in hue reached 
 out until thej^ became brigades, and the brigades multi- 
 plied into divisions. All in good order they came, col- 
 ors flying, officers at their posts, men elbow to elbow, 
 marching as if on parade, the front lines firing as they 
 marched. But a thousand yards under your enemy's 
 cool and regular fire makes a long course of attack. 
 The steps are man}^, and at ever}^ step men drop. The 
 brave are wounded, cowards faint. Our guns, which 
 had been elevated at three degrees, were lowered to 
 two and a half, to two, to one and a half, and were 
 trained in the faces of the great mass drawing nearer 
 and nearer. Shrapnell shells and case shot, bursting 
 just in front of the coming lines, showered down leaden 
 balls and fragments of broken iron. The ranks were 
 rent open ; men were winged and hipped ; but worse 
 than the individual losses was the disorder, physical 
 and moral, the breaking and jangling of the nice ma- 
 chine built up with such careful skill. Regiments lost 
 their regimen ; colors were stricken down, officers killed 
 or disabled, men bewildered, made hopeless, scattered 
 under the merciless shells and the converging bullets of 
 the infantry. It seemed like thrusting a fagot of icicles 
 against white-heated iron. Your weapon fails, and 3'ou 
 know not where or how. The force and organization, 
 well enough when not overtasked, become naught before 
 a vasth' superior force. 
 
 The sight was dreadful ; the sound was worse. The 
 air was torn by explosions ; not split, but rent and torn, 
 by so many discharges, into jagged vibrations, — weird 
 and terrible. All these sounds swelled into one mighty 
 roar. 
 
 Toward sunset, the wind, which had purified the 
 
56 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 afternoon, died awfi}^, and left the guns and musketry 
 in their own atmosphere. The increasing vohimes of 
 smoke rolled over the field and hung over the tree-tops, 
 murky, dark, and dismal. The cheery- light of day was 
 gone, and the evening was beclouded with this infernal 
 darkness, lighted b}' blazing gunpowder. The attack- 
 ing party did better under these conditions. They 
 crept up under cover of the smoke until within one or 
 two hundred yards of our guns. Then the batteries 
 rattled out canister shot, deadl^^ at close range, and 
 drove them back. Graduall}' the enemy's fire slack- 
 ened, as his gallant but ill-planned effort failed. 
 
 About twenty guns did the most of the work ; but they 
 were relieved in some cases two and three times, as the 
 batteries expended their ammunition. Ames had light 
 twelve-pounders, the very best field gun for a close en- 
 counter. Kingsbury's West Point battery was relieved 
 by Weeden's of Rhode Island, commanded by Lieut. 
 Waterman, and a section of Phillips's. 
 
 These few minutes of description cover some three 
 hours of work. And, frightful as it seems in imagina- 
 tion, it was done much as other work is done. Reso- 
 lute men worked together, performing simple acts under 
 pressure of the most exciting circumstances. Mistakes 
 were made, and righted. The result was a great 
 achievement and heroic, but the deeds of individuals 
 were simple, and done in a simple way. A soldier 
 doing his duty thinks little of himself. Even the horses 
 submit patientl}^ to the inevitable. My own horse 
 dragged wearil}' about. It did not seem strange, as his 
 week's service had been hard, that he would not answer 
 to the spur. But General Griffin, coming up, says, 
 " Captain, your horse is wounded." Looking down, I 
 saw that one hinder leg was soaked in blood. He 
 went to the rear carrying the ball, which was afterward 
 extracted. 
 
 One forgets the more horrible scenes, or perhaps 
 rather ignores them. I could not have said whether 
 the livid corpses were Caucasian or African, for I did 
 
McCLELLAN AND THE PENINSULA. 57 
 
 not look at them as I rode among them. And little 
 bits of action which were dramatic \\xq in the memory, 
 though the^' might be trifles in historic importance. A 
 section of New York guns was on om* right, beginning 
 Coach's left. Their position obliqued their direction 
 over the heads of some infantry. The fire looked high 
 as the shells swept across. "At what elevation are 
 3'ou firing, Lieutenant?" " Five degrees ! " " Five de- 
 grees, you might as well turn around and fire into the 
 James River." " 'T is General Couch's order, sir!" 
 Just then the General rode along. " General, these 
 guns are wasting their ammunition away over the heads 
 of the enem}'." " But the infantry sent word the shells 
 burst among our own ranks." " General, the infantry 
 alwa^^s think themselves hurt when fired over, whether 
 we point high or low. If 3'ou want to hurt the enemy, 
 you must take the risk, and put the guns down where 
 the}^ will tell." " Well, Captain, do as 3'ou think best 
 with them." And the^^ were laid at a degree and a half. 
 
 My own command had been relieved, batter}^ by 
 battery. I went up to the centre of the line and 
 found General Porter, to know if there were an}^ fur- 
 ther commands. Beside the corps commander was 
 General Hunt, chief of the artiller^^ reserve of the Army 
 of the Potomac. At the rear there was a batter}^ of 
 thirt^'-two-pounder howitzers, big light pieces, which 
 throw canister b}^ the hatful. Porter wanted them 
 brought up, but Hunt was doubtful whether the can- 
 noneers were experienced enough to be trusted in the 
 thick of that fight. Thej' were talking quietly, even 
 in the din around them. Porter said ver}" earnestl}^, 
 " Wh3% Hunt, the sound of those guns will fill their 
 ears with terror." It was so unconscious, and so melo- 
 dramatic, that the humor of the scene has alwa3^s lin- 
 gered in m3^ mind. 
 
 It was late in the evening. I turned down the road 
 toward Malvern House, in the rear. There were steep 
 banks on either side as the wa3^ descended. Bang ! 
 bang ! a battery on m3^ left was firing a whole round. 
 
58 STORJES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 I shivered with horror ; and almost with the thought 
 m^' horse sprang up the bank and bounded into the 
 space between guns and hmbers. " Who is in com- 
 mand here ? " A sergeant gave the well-known name 
 of a crack officer in the horse artillery, and he came up, 
 almost at the moment. '* Captain, you are firing right 
 through our own line." " D — n it, I can't help it. I 
 was ordered to fire when I was fired on, and the bul- 
 lets came in here ; I could not see." " Cease firing ! " 
 No serious harm came from it. A second fine of guns 
 had been posted with orders to open on friend and foe 
 alike if our first line had given wa3\ 
 
 After nine o'clock, the uproar ceased. I found my 
 own mess, and ate a rude but welcome supper. We 
 lay down on a tarpaulin gun-cover, but not to sleep ; 
 for the adjutant-general soon found his way, by the light 
 of a lantern, to this uneasy couch. He brought orders 
 to move, and before midnight and for all night we were 
 marching to Harrison's Landing. 
 
 We brought off our own wounded and dead. In the 
 early morning, Averill held the line our batteries had 
 defended so well, and then quietly left the field of 
 Malvern Hill, thickly strewn with the Rebel dead. — 
 Capt. Weeden, First li. I. Artillery, 
 
 During the same summer Banks was in command 
 in tlie valley of the Shenandoah. Here is a story 
 of that campaign : — 
 
 FIGHT AT WINCHESTER. 
 
 Though our men were exhausted, when we came by 
 General Banks, and were ordered by him to the double- 
 quick, the whole regiment seemed electrified and went 
 on with a will for the fight. We passed the Twenty- 
 seventh Mar^iand drawn up in line of battle, and things 
 looked serious. Companies A and C were thrown out 
 as skirmishers, and the rest of the battalion acted as 
 
WEST VIRGINIA. 59 
 
 supports to the line of skirmishers and to the batteries. 
 As we came into the street a battery at the other end 
 opened upon us witli shells, that came raking along 
 furiously in perfect range. We stove in the street 
 fences and pushed along under some shelter. On we 
 passed through people's gardens, and gave the natives 
 some new notions on the subject of demolishing fences. 
 Bert's regular battery and Cotheau's New York soon 
 got into position, and we drove the enemy like sheep a 
 mile or two out of the town, — not without some com- 
 pliments from their guns. The firing was good on both 
 sides. At one time we noticed some Rebel cavalry pour- 
 ing round on our flank ; a piece was sent out to treat their 
 case, and the first shell struck in the very centre of 
 them, — it would have hit the bull's-ej^e. — A mejuber of 
 the 2d Mass. 
 
 HOW GENERAL BANKS'S ARMY WAS SAVED. 
 
 You have probably heard by this time of the three 
 days' fighting from vStrasburg and Front Ro3'al to Mar- 
 tinsburg. Our compau}- and Compan}' B were ordered to 
 Front Royal, in the mountains, twelve miles from Stras- 
 burg, last Frida}', and when we got v»dthin two miles 
 of our destination we heard cannonading. The Major 
 ordered the baggage to stop, and our two companies 
 dashed on, and found several companies of our infantry 
 and two pieces of artillery engaged with several thou- 
 sand of the enemy. Just as we arrived on the field, 
 Colonel Parem, who had command of our forces, rode 
 up to me and ordered me to take one man and the two 
 fastest horses in the company and ride for dear life to 
 General Banks's head-quarters in Strasburg for rein- 
 forcements. The direct road to Strasburg was occu- 
 pied by the enemy, so I was obliged to ride round by 
 another, seventeen miles. I rode the seventeen miles 
 in fift3'-five minutes. General Banks did n't seem to 
 think it very serious, but ordered one regiment of in- 
 fantry and two pieces of artillery ofi". I asked General 
 
60 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Banks for a fresh horse to rejoin my companj', and he 
 gave nie the best horse I ever rode, and I started back. 
 I came out on the Front Royal turnpike, about two miles 
 this side of where I left our men. Saw two men stand- 
 ing in the road, and their horses standing by the fence. 
 I supposed they were our pickets. They did n't halt me, 
 so I asked them if the}^ were pickets. Thej^ said no. 
 Says I, "Who are 3'ou?" "We are part of General 
 Jackson's staff." I supposed that the}^ were only joking. 
 I laughed and asked them where Jackson was. Thej^ 
 said he was in the advance. I left them and rode to 
 Front Ro3'al, till I overtook a soldier, and asked him 
 what regiment he belonged to. He said he belonged to 
 the Eighth Louisiana. I asked how large a force thej'' 
 had, and the repl}' was " twenty thousand." I then 
 turned back and drew m}' revolver, expecting a des- 
 perate fight or a Southern jail ; but the officers in the 
 road didn't stop me, and I was luck}' enough not to 
 meet an}- of their pickets. But if it was not a narrow 
 escape, then I don't know what is. When I got out of 
 the enemy's lines I rode as fast as the horse could carrj^ 
 me to General Banks, and reported what I had seen 
 and heard. He said I had saved tbe arm}'. In less 
 than an hour the w^hole army was in motion towards 
 Winchester. — C. H. Greenleaf^ 5th N. Y, Cav. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 ANTIETAM. 
 
 \ FTER the six days' change of basg, General 
 -^^^ McCleHan made Harrison's Landing his 
 base of supplies; — but lie afterwards occupied 
 Malvern Hill again, and on the 5th of August 
 wrote from that place to Washington, that with 
 reinforcements he could march his army to Rich- 
 mond in five days. 
 
 To which General Halleck, in command at 
 Washington, replied by telegraph, " I have no rein- 
 forcements to send you," and immediately after- 
 wards bade him send cavalry and artillery up to 
 the Potomac at Acquia Creek again, saying, " It is 
 reported that Jackson is moving North with a very 
 large force." He had been already ordered to 
 withdraw the whole army to Acquia Creek (below 
 Washington), and had, on the 4th of August, 
 protested against this change. 
 
 The country and the President took the strategic 
 " change of base " as an acknowledgment of defeat, 
 and as in fact defeat. This General McClellan 
 never acknowledged. General Pope, who had 
 
62 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 been summoned from the West, was directed to 
 defend Washington ; and as fast as the army 
 could be hurried back from the James River, wliich 
 was now open to the Union steamboats, it was 
 pLaced under his command. Meanwhile, the Rebel 
 army again threatened Washington. The forts 
 erected by McClellan on the southern side of the 
 Potomac were its protection. But beyond them, — 
 with his army but just back from the James River, 
 — on almost the same ground as the battle of the 
 year before, General Pope fought Generals Stone- 
 wall Jackson and Longstreet, and was badly beaten. 
 Meanwhile General Lee, who probably never in- 
 tended to attack that strong line of forts, had taken 
 the larger part of his army northward, so as to 
 march around them, and to attack the Northern 
 Capitol, or the Northern States, as he might find 
 best, by crossing the Potomac, and moving thence 
 either on Washington or on Philadelphia. 
 
 A second defeat at Bull Run discouraged the 
 country, and perliaps the army, as much as that of 
 a year before. Rightly or wrongly, the army and 
 the country conceived a great contempt for General 
 Pope, who had lost this battle. It was supposed — 
 as it proved very unjustly — that General Fitz John 
 Porter, one of the ablest officers in the army, had 
 refused his best assistance in the battle. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, with the magnanimity which alwaj^s 
 showed itself in his character, was willing to ac- 
 knowledge that he had made a mistake, — and 
 
ANTIETAM. 63 
 
 placed McClellan again at the head of the army, 
 which now had to defend Washington on the west. 
 Under him the battle of Antietam was fought on 
 the 17th of September. 
 
 OPENING OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 The night of the 16th was passed by both armies 
 with the expectation of a hea\y battle in the morning. 
 Few officers found relief from anxietj'^, for it was be- 
 lieved by man}' that it might be a turning-point in the 
 war. Only the commander-in-chief of the National 
 army seems to have had a lofty faith that all would be 
 well. He retired to his room at a little past ten o'clock, 
 and did not leave it until eight o'clock the next morn- 
 ing, when the surrounding hills had been echoing the 
 sounds of battle which had been raging within a mile of 
 head-quarters for three hours. Then, with some of his 
 aids, he walked to a beautiful grove on the brow of a 
 declivit}^ near Pry's, overlooking the Antietam, and 
 watched the battle on the right for about two hours, 
 when he mounted his horse and rode away to Porter's 
 division, on the right, where he was greeted, as usual, 
 by the heart}' cheers of his admiring soldiers. 
 
 The contest was opened at dawn by Hooker, with 
 about eighteen thousand men. He made a vigorous 
 attack on the Confederate left, commanded by Jackson. 
 DoLibleday was on his right, Meade on his left, and 
 Ricketts in his centre. His first object was to push the 
 Confederates back through a line of woods, and seize 
 the Hagerstown road and the woods beyond it in the 
 vicinity of the Dunker church, where Jackson's line lay. 
 The contest was obstinate and severe. The National 
 batteries on the east side of the Antietam poured an en- 
 filading fire on Jackson that galled him very much, and 
 it was not long before the Confederates were driven with 
 heavy loss beyond the first line of woods, and across an 
 open field, which was covered thickly in the morning 
 with standinof corn. 
 
64 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Hooker now advanced his centre under Meade, to 
 seize the Hagerstown road and the woods be3'ond. The}^ 
 were met by a mnrderous fire from Jackson, who had 
 just been reinforced by Hood's refreshed troops, and had 
 brought up his reserves. These issued in great num- 
 bers from the woods, and fell heavil}' upon Meade in the 
 cornfield. Hooker called upon Doubleday for aid, and 
 a brigade under the gallant General Hartsuff was in- 
 stantly forwarded at the double-quick, and passed across 
 the cornfield in the face of a terrible storm of shot and 
 shell. It fought desperately for half an hour unsup- 
 ported, when its leader fell severely wounded. In the 
 meanwhile, Mansfield's corps had been ordered up to 
 the support of Hooker, and while the divisions of 
 Williams and Greene of that corps were deploying, their 
 brave commander was mortally wounded.-^ 
 
 This brave and good man was killed, almost 
 immediately after the battle began, and General 
 Williams took command of the Twelfth Corps. 
 For about two hours the battle raged with varied 
 success. But the Union troops gradually drove 
 the left wing of their enemy back into a line of 
 woods. At about nine o'clock General Sedgwick's 
 division arrived, as a reinforcement. It passed 
 diagonally to the front across an open space before 
 General Williams's first division, and this division 
 was withdrawn for a time. Entei'ing the woods 
 and driving the enemy before them, tlie first line 
 was met in the woods by heav}^ musketry and a 
 fire of shell. Meanwhile a stray column of the 
 
 1 I take this concise statement of the opening? of the hattle 
 from Mr. Lossing's admirable book, because he had the advantage, 
 wiiicli I have not had, of personal acq uaintauce with the scene. — 
 E. E. H. 
 
I 
 
 ANTIETAM. 65 
 
 enemy had crowded back General Greene, so that 
 their left flank was exposed. General Howard 
 faced the third line to the rear preparatory to a 
 change of front to meet this advancing column. 
 But his men, exposed, both in front and on the left, 
 to a destructive fire which they could not return, 
 gave way, and were soon followed by the first and 
 second lines. 
 
 General Gorman's brigade, however, and one 
 regiment of General Dana's, soon rallied, and 
 checked the enemy's advance on the right. On 
 General Gorman's left the second and third lines 
 formed, and met the advance of the enemy with a 
 heavy fire. This fire and the Union batteries on 
 the left, which were able to open as soon as the 
 infantry withdrew, threw the enemy back into the 
 woods again. As tliese movements went on. Gen- 
 erals Sedgwick and Dana and Hooker were all 
 wounded and were taken from the field. General 
 Howard took General Sedgwick's command, and 
 General Meade took General Hooker's. 
 
 -General McClellan's report of the continuation 
 of the battle is in these words : — 
 
 FEENCH AND RICHARDSON. 
 
 While the conflict was so obstinately raging on the 
 right. General French was pushing his division against 
 the enem}' still further to the left. This division crossed 
 the Antietam at the same ford as General Sedgwick, 
 and immediatel}'' in his rear. Passing the stream in 
 three columns, the division marched about a mile from 
 
 5 
 
66 STORiM TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 the ford, — then, facing to the left, moved in three lines 
 towards the enem3\ . . . The division was first assailed 
 by a fire of artiller^^ but steadily advanced, driving in 
 the enemy's skirmishers, and encountered the infantry 
 in some force at the group of houses near Roulette's 
 farm. General Weber's brigade graduall}' advanced 
 with an unwavering front, and drove the enem}' from 
 their position about the houses. 
 
 While General Weber was hotl}^ engaged with the 
 first line of the enem^^. General French received orders 
 to push on with renewed vigor to make a diversion in 
 favor of the attack on the right. Leaving the new 
 troops, who had been thrown into some confusion from 
 their march through cornfields, over fences, &c., to form 
 as a reserve, he ordered the brigade of General Kimball 
 to the front, passing to the left of General Weber. The 
 enemy were pressed back to near tli^ crest of the hill, 
 where he was encountered in greater strength, posted in 
 a sunken road, forming a natural rifle-pit, running in a 
 northwesterly direction. In a cornfield in rear of this 
 road were also strong bodies of the enemy. As the line 
 reached the crest of this hill, a galling fire was opened 
 upon it from the sunken road and cornfield. Here a 
 terrific fire of musketry burst from both lines, and the 
 battle raged along the whole line with great slaughter. 
 
 The enemy attempted to turn the left of the line, but 
 were met by the Seventh Virginia and One Hundred 
 Thirty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers and repulsed. 
 Foiled in this, the enemy made a determined assault on 
 the front, but were met by a charge from our lines, 
 which drove them back with some loss, leaving in our 
 hands some three hundred prisoners and several stand 
 of colors. The enemy, having been repulsed by the ter- 
 rible execution of the batteries and the musketry fire on 
 the extreme right, now attempted to assist the attack 
 on General French's division by assailing him on his 
 right, and endeavoring to turn his flank ; but this attack 
 was met and checked by the Fourteenth Indiana and 
 Eighth Ohio Volunteers, and by canister from Captain 
 
ANTIETAM. 67 
 
 Tompkins's battery, First Ehode Island Artiller}'. Hav- 
 ing been under an almost continuous fire for nearly" four 
 hours, and their ammunition being nearh' exhausted, 
 this division now took position immediately below the 
 crest of the heights on which they had so gallantly 
 fought, the enemy making no attempt to regain their 
 lost ground. 
 
 On the left of General French, General Richardson's 
 division was hotl}' engaged. Having crossed the Antie- 
 tam about 9.30 a. m., at the ford crossed b}^ the other 
 divisions of Sumner's corps, it moved on a line nearly 
 parallel to the Antietam, and formed in a ravine be- 
 hind the high grounds overlooking Roulette's house ; 
 the Second (Irish) Brigade, commanded by General 
 Meagher, on the right, the Third Brigade, commanded 
 by General Caldwell, on his left, and the brigade com- 
 manded b}' Colonel Brooks, Fift3'-third Pennsylvania 
 Volunteers, in support. As the division moved forward 
 to take its position on the field, the enemy directed a 
 fire of artillery against it, but, owing to the irregularities 
 of the ground, did but little damage. 
 
 Meagher's brigade, advancing steadily, soon became 
 engaged with the enemy posted to the left and in front 
 of Roulette's house. It continued to advance under a 
 heavy fire nearly to the crest of the hill overlooking Pi- 
 per's house, the enemy being posted in a continuation 
 of the sunken road, and cornfield, before referred to. 
 Here the brave Irish brigade opened upon the enem}' a 
 terrific musketry fire. All of General Sumner's corps 
 was now engaged, General Sedgwick's on the right, 
 General French in the centre, and General Richardson 
 on the left. The Irish brigade sustained its well-earned 
 reputation. After suffering terribly in officers and men, 
 and strewing the ground with their enemies as the}' 
 drove them back, their ammunition nearly expended, 
 and their commander, General Meagher, disabled by 
 the fall of his horse, shot under him, this brigade was 
 ordered to give place to General Caldwell's brigade, 
 which advanced to a short distance in its rear. The 
 
68 
 
 ISTORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 lines were passed by the Irish brigade, breaking by 
 oompan}' to the rear, and General Caldwell's, by com- 
 pan^^ to the front, as steadily as on drill. Colonel 
 Brooks's brigade now became the second line. 
 
 The ground over which General Richardson's and 
 French's divisions were fighting was very irregular, in- 
 tersected by numerous ravines, hills covered with grow- 
 ing corn, enclosed by stone walls, behind which the 
 enemy could advance unobserved upon an}^ exposed 
 point of our lines. Taking advantage of this, the enem}' 
 attempted to gain the right of Richardson's position in 
 a cornfield, near Roulette's House, where the division 
 had become separated from that of General French. A 
 change of front by the FilU-Second New York and 
 Second Delaware Volunteers, of Colonel Brooks's brig- 
 ade, under Colonel Frank, and the attack made by the 
 Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, sent further to the 
 right by Colonel Brooks to close this gap in the line, 
 and the movement of the One Hundred Thirtj'-second 
 Pennsylvania and Seventh Virginia Volunteers, of Gen- 
 eral French's division, before referred to, drove the 
 eneni}^ from the cornfield, and restored the line. 
 
 The brigade of General Caldwell, with determined 
 gallantry, pushed the enemy back opposite the left and 
 centre of this division, but sheltered in the sunken road 
 they still held our forces on the right of Caldwell in 
 check. Colonel Barlow, commanding the 8ixty-fii*St 
 and Sixty-fourth New York regiments, of Caldwell's 
 brigade, seeing a favorable opportunity, advanced these 
 regiments on the left, taking the line on the sunken 
 road in flank, and compelled them to surrender, captur- 
 ing over three hundred prisoners and three stand of 
 colors. 
 
 The whole of the brigade, with the Fifty-seventh and 
 Sixty-sixth New York regiments of Colonel Brooks's 
 brigade, who had moved these regiments into the first 
 line, now advanced with gallantry, driving the enemy 
 before them in confusion into the cornfield bej'ond the 
 sunken road. The left of the division was now well ad- 
 
ANTIETAM. 69 
 
 vanced, when the enemy, concealed by an inten^ening 
 ridge, endeavored to turn its left and rear. Colonel 
 Cross, Fifth New Hampshire, b}' a change of front to 
 the left and rear, brought his regiment facing the ad- 
 vancing line. Here a spirited contest arose to gain a 
 commanding height, — the two opposing forces moving 
 parallel to each other, giving and receiving fire. The 
 Fifth, gainiug the advantage, faced to the right and de- 
 livered its volley. The enemy staggered, but rallied 
 and advanced desperatelj" at a charge. Being rein- 
 forced b}" the Eighty-first Pennsjdvania regiment, these 
 regiments met the advance by a counter charge. The 
 enemy fled, leaving many killed, wounded, and prison- 
 ers, and the colors of the Fourth North Carolina in our 
 hands. — Gen. Mc Clellans Official Report. 
 
 Greene's charge. 
 
 At last their line began to waver, and General Greene 
 shouted, " Charge ! " With a yell of triumph we started, 
 with levelled bayonets ; and, terror-stricken, the Rebels 
 fled. Like hounds after the frightened deer, we pur- 
 sued them fully three fourths of a mile, killing, wound- 
 ing, and taking prisoners almost every rod. Their colors 
 fell : a private soldier leaped forward, and tore them from 
 the staff. 
 
 Across the fields we pursued the foe, who again took 
 shelter in a heavy piece of timber, flanked b}" their 
 artillery. A batter}' of twelve-pounder howitzers came 
 to our support, and most efficient service it rendered. 
 We formed in two lines in rear of the batter}^ and lay 
 behind a low ridge, sufficientl}' high to protect from a 
 direct shot, but which off"ered no shelter from the frag- 
 ments of shells bursting near and over us ; these were 
 continuaUy striking amongst us, often grazing a cap or 
 an arm, but doing no particular harm. The howitzers 
 were doing splendidly, when suddenly we heard, " But 
 eight rounds left ! " Twenty more rounds would silence 
 the Rebel battery, but we had them not. Soon the 
 
70 STORIES^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Rebel fire was more rapid, and a j^ell in the distance 
 denoted an advance of their infantry. Shall we retreat? 
 No ! we will hold our gi-ound or die ! On they come, 
 3^elling defiantly : 't is Hill's division, second to none but 
 Jackson's. We look anxiously for another battery. It 
 comes ! it comes ! We are safe ! — Mtj. IVood, 1th Ohio. 
 
 THOUGHT FOR THE WOUNDED. 
 
 As we ueared the grove, — it was at the corner of the 
 field, — a regiment of Rebels, who had lain concealed 
 among the tall corn, arose and poiu'ed upon us the most 
 withering volley we had ever felt. Another and another 
 followed, and a continuous rattle rent the air. We 
 could not stop to reply, — we could but hurr}' on. The 
 slaughter was fearful ; I never saw men fall so fast ; I 
 was obUged to step over them at every step 
 
 We reached the grove, and drove the Rebels from it. 
 They retired obliquel}- into the corn-field, keeping up a 
 retreating fire. I observed, not thirty ^ards from me, 
 two stout Rebels assisting a wounded comrade from the 
 field, supporting his fainting form between them. I 
 could have killed one of them ; their backs were pre- 
 sented toward me ver}^ temptingly. I was going to fire, 
 but at that moment I heard the wounded man groan. I 
 hesitated. Could I shoot one of the men who were 
 bearing him awa}-, and allow him again to fall to the 
 earth ? I could not. I sought another mark ; and seeing 
 a Rebel in the act of loading his gun, just at the edge 
 of the cornfield, I fired at him. — Serg. Hill., 8th Penn. 
 Reserves. 
 
 MAINE AT ANTIETAM. 
 
 The Maine ScA-enth was ordered to drive the enemy 
 from a strong position about nine hundred yards in front 
 of the line of battle. Every private in the ranks knew 
 that a brigade of the enemy was massed there with a 
 battery of artillery, and that an awful blunder had been 
 
ANTIETAM. 71 
 
 made, but obedience is the first duty of a soldier. The 
 order was given to the regiment to advance. On they 
 went across the field under a shower of bullets, halting 
 twice to return the fire of the enemy. After halting the 
 second time to deliver their fire, the regiment rushed 
 forward with such a cheer as onl}' the " Seventh" can 
 give, driving the enemy before them. 
 
 The Rebels now took refuge behind a stone wall and 
 opened a galling fire of musketry. At this point the 
 regiment had arrived within range of one of our bat- 
 teries, which had been plaj-ing upon the enemy, and, not 
 aware of the advance, our forces continued firing. The 
 Rebels opened their battery with grape and canister. 
 The regiment seemed now devoted to destruction, yet 
 the men delivered their fire with steadiness and terrible 
 effect as thej' moved by the left flank to gain the cover of 
 an orchard. Thence through a cornfield, b^^ a circuitous 
 route, the}^ returned to their old position in line of bat- 
 tle. Not a man had straggled, all that the bullets had 
 spared were there ; but how thinned the ranks ! Only 
 sixty-five men now constitute the gallant "Seventh 
 Maine." — Portland Press. 
 
 BURNSIDE S ATTACK ON THE LEFT. 
 
 The Antietam in front of Burnside was deep, not 
 fordable, flowing in the bottom of a charming valle}^, 
 and overshadow^ed by trees. There was a solid stone 
 bridge over it, with three arches rising picturesquely^ in 
 the centre, with stone parapets on the sides, the para- 
 pets spreading at both ends of the structure. One 
 would almost imagine that it was an old Italian bridge, 
 transported to our modern building land. The side of 
 the valley held by the Rebel troops rises sharply, not 
 denseh' wooded, but covered b}^ large trees thickly placed 
 as in an old English park. Along the top of this ridge 
 ran a solid stone wall, thicker and of heavier stones 
 than any we saw in the neighborhood. Where the wall 
 ended rifle-pits had been dug. Behind the massive 
 
72 STORl^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 trunks, and in the branches of the old trees, behind this 
 wall, and in the pits, were crowded the sharp-shooters 
 of the Rebels. The ascent from the bridge out of the 
 yalle}' on the enem3''s side was too steep for a straight 
 road up the ridge. If ever a bridge could be defended, 
 that should have been ; the onl}' disadvantage the 
 Rebels were under was that they could not sweep it with 
 artillery. 
 
 Our left had vainh' attempted to cross the bridge ; 
 twice had they been repulsed. On the right our troops 
 were hard pressed ; much of the ground gained in the 
 morning had been lost ; Hooker had been wounded, 
 Sumner's corps routed, IManstiekl killed, and his corps 
 beaten back. Then McClellan ordered Burnside to take 
 the bridge, and hold it any cost. Burnside sent some 
 troops further down the river where it was fordable. 
 He called up one of his old brigades that had been with 
 him in North Carolina, saying, if any brigade could take 
 the bridge, that one would. It was composed of the 
 Fift3'-first New York, Fifty-first Pennsylvania, Twent}'- 
 first Massachusetts, and a Rhode Island regiment ; on 
 their colors were inscribed ''Roanoke," ''Newbern,"two 
 of our most glorious victories. With these veteran 
 troops was the Thirty-fifth jMassachusetts, a new regi- 
 ment that had left home onh' a month before, but who 
 nobl}' did their part. Down went the Fift3'-first Penn- 
 sylvania in column in the advance, at the run, shouting 
 and crowding and firing as the}' hurried across the 
 bridge, bringing down the Rebels from- the trees, suffer- 
 ing themselves, but never halting. They crossed and 
 deployed on the other side. Next came the Thirt}'- 
 fifth Massachusetts over the bridge, up the valley, then 
 forming in line of battle on the top of the small hill com- 
 manding the stream. The enemy were drawn up before 
 tliem, quite a distance off, on the top of the next hill. 
 Ever}' inch of ground between was commanded by the 
 Rebel fire ; but our brave fellows charged on up this 
 hill, driving the foe before them. Nothing daunted, 
 they followed up their charge, and drove the enemy from 
 
AXTIETAM. 73 
 
 this hill and took this most commanding position. There 
 thej' halted, close to Sharpsburg, almost in the rear of 
 the Rebels. Some of our troops even penetrated to 
 Sharpsbiirg itself, and were taken prisoners. A short 
 distance farther would have cut off the enem^-'s direct 
 retreat to the Potomac. Rebel troops were seen hurry- 
 ing on the road to the river. Our men were now fired 
 upon by artillery-, and attacked b}' fresh bodies of in- 
 fantry coming up, as the eneni}- say in their account, 
 from Harper's Ferr}'. Our brave fellows, however, 
 stood their ground waiting for reinforcements, which 
 Burnside called for. But McClellan, unfortunatel}^, 
 dared not throw in his reserves ; his object had probably 
 been gained in making a diversion from the hard con- 
 tested field on our right. Our gallant fellows had to 
 stand there unsupported, until their ammunition gave 
 out. They fired their sixty rounds of ammunition, col- 
 lecting all they could from their dead and wounded 
 comrades, and then began to retreat. Benjamin's bat- 
 tery of artillery was also short of ammunition, and could 
 not support them. Our brave boys onh^ retreated to 
 the next hill, not to the hill above the Antietam, and 
 there lay on their arms during the night, and there 
 the}' staj'ed during the next da}', expecting the order to 
 advance. — G. W. Loring, in the Continental Magazine. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PITTSBURG LAXDIXG. 
 
 "'T^OM," said Uncle Fritz, "you are an old- 
 -^ fashioned sort of boy. Do you remember 
 anything about AVashington's success at the battle 
 of Trenton ? " 
 
 " Why, yes," said Tom ; — "it says that they had 
 driven him across the Delaware, and had stretched 
 their army all over New Jersey; and that Wash- 
 ington said, ' This is the time to clip their wings, 
 now they are so spread.' So he turned round and 
 took all the Hessians at Trenton, — and a few days 
 after cut in on them at Princeton. And they say 
 he might have taken another set at Brunswick, 
 but his council of war would not let him. I hate 
 councils of war." 
 
 " They are pretty much out of fashion now," 
 said Uncle Fritz. " Just that sort of thing, which 
 Washington did there, is what the Southern Gen- 
 erals Jolmston and Beauregard tried to do with 
 Grant's army on the Tennessee. If you will look on 
 the map, you will see that, at the western part of 
 its course, the Tennessee River flows nearly north. 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 75 
 
 When General Grant took command of the National 
 army, on the ITth of Marcli, 1862, he found it in 
 five ' divisions,' ^ ranged along this river. General 
 Sherman and General Hurlbut, with about half the 
 army, were at Pittsburg Landing, on the west 
 side of the river. They commanded two ' divis- 
 ions,' and were farthest south, which is to say 
 nearest the enemy. General Lew Wallace, with 
 another division, was on the same side of the river, 
 about five miles farther north. General McCler- 
 nand and General Charles F. Smith, with two more 
 divisions, making about half the army, were at 
 Savanna, or in transports near it, — still farther 
 north. As soon as Grant took command, he gave 
 orders to concentrate this force. On the other 
 side, as soon as Johnston felt strong enough, he 
 meant to attack its advance, under Hurlbut and 
 Sherman, before it was strengthened, and tliis he 
 did in the beginning of April. It was precisely 
 what Washington did, with much smaller forces, 
 at Trenton, but that the English army there was 
 at posts separated by land, and here a navigable 
 river gave Grant's divisions easy methods of move- 
 ment. The Rebel army had been concentrated 
 around Corinth, which is in the northern part of 
 Mississippi. There was some skirmishing between 
 outposts as early as the 2d of April. On the 4th, 
 Johnston ' felt Sherman's front,' as soldiers say, 
 
 1 By " division " was meant a separate command, of which 
 the officers reported to the general at the head. 
 
76 STORTES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 in force. But both Grant and Sherman thought 
 there was no probability of an immediate engage- 
 ment. Here they were mistaken. For on the 6th 
 of April came one of the most terrible battles of 
 the war, or any war, — which did not end, indeed, 
 till the final retreat of the defeated Rebel force on 
 the 7th. Johnston and Beauregard attacked with 
 their whole force the divisions of Hiirlbut and 
 Sherman. Lew Wallace did not succeed in bringing 
 up the support of his division till night of the 6th. 
 At night McClernand's and Smith's divisions be- 
 gan to arrive from Savanna, and with the morning 
 Grant was able to move these fresh troops against 
 the enemy, wlio had been fighting all the day be- 
 fore. They gave way slowly, and he drove them 
 back to Corinth. On the first day they had driven 
 back Sherman's and Hurlbut's lines so far, as 
 to take possession of their camps. On the 7th 
 they were themselves driven back. But many of 
 the prisoners whom they took the first day were 
 not recaptured. The loss, in both days, of the 
 National army was twelve thousand two hundred 
 and seventeen. The loss of the Rebels was ten 
 thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. 
 
 " Remember that the battle-field reaches back from 
 the bluffs at Pittsburg Landing two or three miles. 
 It is a thickly-wooded and broken country, mixed 
 with some patches of cultivation. The river was 
 very high, so that back-water filled deep the little 
 streams which run into it. As the battle began, 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 77 
 
 Sherman commanded at the extreme right, and a 
 little stream called Owl Creek protected him from 
 any attack from the west or the rear. Between 
 him and the Tennessee were McClernand's and 
 Prentiss's foices, with Stuart nearest the river. 
 In a second line, behind these troops were General 
 Hurlbut and General W. H. L. Wallace, — whom 
 you must not confound with General Lew Wallace, 
 who was five miles away. These officers were so 
 near that their men could be moved up at once to 
 support the front. The troops were all Western 
 troops, some of whom had never been under fire. 
 
 '^ Now I think you will understand these stories 
 of parts of the battle. The very earliest attack, at 
 three o'clock in the morning, was made on General 
 Prentiss's men. Colonel Everett Peabody, of the 
 Twenty-fifth Missouri, 'by one of those undefinable 
 impulses or misgivings which detect the approach 
 of catastrophe without physical warning of it, be- 
 came convinced that all was not right.* He com- 
 manded the first brigade of General Prentiss's 
 division. Very early Sunday morning, therefore, 
 he sent out three companies of his own regiment, 
 and two of the Twelfth Michigan, under the com- 
 mand of Major Powell of that regiment, to recon- 
 noitre." 
 
 Here is the report of that movement, as it is told 
 by the senior surviving officer : — 
 
 The regiment occupied the right of the first brigade, 
 commanded by Colonel Peabody, acting brigadier-gen- 
 
78 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 eral, and had the honor of opening the fight on the 6th, 
 the attack being made on its front at three o'clock in 
 the morning. By Colonel Peabod^'s orders three com- 
 panies were despatched to engage the enemy's advance, 
 which was successfully done' until reinforced by the 
 Twent3'-first Missouri. The fighting now becahie gen- 
 eral and heav}', and I was ordered to support with the 
 whole regiment. The enemy had now come within half 
 a mile of the encampment, where they were checked and 
 held until near seven o'clock, when our force fell back 
 to the line of encampment, where another stand was 
 made. The fighting was very severe until eight o'clock, 
 when we were compelled to fall back still further, behind 
 our encampments, on the division which had by this 
 time formed in line of battle on an elevation in our rear. 
 My regiment had, by this time, become badly cut up, 
 but the}' rallied and took position on the right of the 
 Twelfth Michigan, with the loss of several of m}' most 
 valuable officers. The fighting now became most deter- 
 mined, and continued with little intermission for three 
 hours. The enemy, being thrice repulsed, finally moved 
 to our left. It was in this part of the engagement 
 that Major Powell fell mortally wounded, and Ser- 
 geant Euler, color-bearer, was killed, clinging to the 
 staff till it had to be detached from his grasp by Ser- 
 geant Simmons, who took his place. — Lieut.-Col. 
 Van Horn. 
 
 The Rebels, you see, were steadily gaining 
 ground here. General Prentiss with a part of 
 his command stood too firmly, for they were 
 taken prisoners, being surrounded by the Rebel 
 advance. 
 
 Now here is the account which the Twenty-first 
 Missouri give, — who, as you see, reinforced these 
 companies. 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 79 
 
 On the 5th with three companies I made a reconnois- 
 sance over three miles, which failed to discover the 
 enemy. I returned to my encampment about eleven 
 p. M. On Sunday morning, the 6th, at about six 
 o'clock, by order of Colonel Everett Peabody, com- 
 manding the first brigade, sixth division, I advanced 
 with five companies of m}^ command a short distance 
 from our encampment. I met the retreating pickets 
 bringing in their wounded. I ordered and compelled 
 those who were able for dut}" to return to their posts, — 
 and, learning that the enem}' was advancing in force, I 
 sent for the remaining five companies of ni}' regiment. 
 With them I ordered an advance, and attacked the 
 enemy, who were commanded by General Ruggies. A 
 terrific fire was opened upon us from the whole front of 
 the four or five regiments forming the enem^-'s advance, 
 which my gallant soldiers withstood until I had com- 
 municated the intelligence of the movement against us 
 to my commanding general. About this time, being my- 
 self severely wounded, the bone of the leg below the 
 knee being shattered, I was compelled to retire from 
 the field, leaving Lieut.-Col. Woodyard in command. — 
 Col. Moore. 
 
 Now here is Colonel Woodyard' s story of what 
 happened there : — 
 
 I then assumed command of the regiment, and formed 
 a line of battle on the brow of a hill on the cotton-field, 
 facing nearly west. I held this position for some half 
 or three quarters of an hour, — and kept the enemy in 
 check. He fell back, and attempted to outflank me. 
 Discovering this, I moved my line to the north of the 
 hill again, joined b}^ four companies of the Sixteenth 
 Wisconsin infantry. Having no field-officers with them, 
 I ordered them to a position to the east of the field, and 
 as soon as this was done joined them with m}^ command. 
 This line of battle, formed facing south, behind a small 
 incline, enabled my men to load and be out of the range 
 
80 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 of the enemy's fire. The position proved a strong one, 
 and we managed to hold it for upwards of an hour. 
 Finding they could not dislodge us, the enemy again 
 tried to outflank us and deal a cross-fire. We then fell 
 back in good order, firing as we did so, to the next hill. 
 Colonel Peabody, commanding first brigade, here came 
 npwith the Twenty-fifth Missouri regiment. I requested 
 him to bring his men up to the hill on our right, as it would 
 aff'ord protection to his men and be of assistance to my 
 command. He did so, — but the enemy coming by 
 heavy main centre, and dealing a cross-fire upon our 
 right and left, we could not maintain this position for 
 over thirt}^ minutes. We gradually began to fall back, 
 and reached our tents, when the ranks got broken in 
 passing through them. We endeavored to rally our 
 men in the rear of our tents, and formed as well as 
 could be expected, but ni}^ men got much scattered, a 
 great man}' falling into other regiments under the im- 
 mediate command of General Prentiss ; others divided 
 to other divisions, but continued to fight during the two 
 daj'S. — Col. Woody cu^d. 
 
 We cannot follow everybody's account of what 
 he and his men did, in this fashion. But I be- 
 lieve Tom and Walter read all the despatches, 
 and down on the beach the next day they fought 
 it all out by putting lines of white stones for our 
 nien^ and black stones for the Rebels. But this 
 is enough to show you how they tell the story. 
 You will see that Prentiss was being steadily 
 driven back. This being so. General Hurlbut 
 moved up to aid him. Here is a part of his re- 
 
 A single shot from the enemy's batteries struck in 
 Meyers's Thirteenth Ohio battery, when officers and 
 men, with a common impulse of disgraceful cowardice, 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 81 
 
 abandoned the entire batteiy, horses, caissons, and 
 guns, and fled, and I saw them no more until Tuesday. 
 I called for volunteers from the artillery : the call was 
 answered, and ten gallant men from Mann's battery 
 and Ross's batter}^ brought in the horses, which w^ere 
 wild, and spiked the pieces. The attack commenced on 
 the third brigade, through the thick timber, and was 
 met and repelled b}' a steady and continuous fire, which 
 rolled the enemy back in confusion, after some half-hour 
 of struggle, leaving man}' dead and wounded. 
 
 The glimmer of ba3-onets on the left and front of the 
 first brigade showed a large force of the enem}- gather- 
 ing, and an attack was soon made on the Forty-first 
 Illinois and Twenty-eighth on the left of the brigade, 
 and on the Thirty-second Illinois and Third Iowa on 
 the right. At the same time a strong force of very 
 sfead}^ and gallant troops formed in columns, doubled 
 on the centre, and advanced over the open field in front. 
 They were allow-ed to approach within four hundred 
 yards, when fire was opened from Mann's and Ross's bat- 
 teries, and from the two right regiments of the first brig- 
 ade, and the Seventeenth and Twent3'-fifth Kentucky, 
 which were thrown forward slightly so as to flank the 
 column. Under this withering fire the}' vainl}' attempted 
 to deploy, but soon broke, and fell back under cover, 
 leaving not less than one hundred and fifty dead and 
 wounded as evidence how our troops maintained their 
 position. 
 
 The attack on the left was also repulsed ; but, as 
 the ground was covered with trees, the loss could 
 not be judged. General Prentiss having succeeded 
 in rallying a considerable portion of his command, 
 I permitted him to pass to the front of the right of m}^ 
 third brigade, where they redeemed their honor by 
 maintaining that line for some time, while ammuni- 
 tion was supplied to my regiments. A series of attacks 
 upon the right and left of m}' line were readil}' repelled, 
 until I was compelled to order Ross's battery to the 
 rear, on account of its loss in men and horses. During 
 
 6 
 
82 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 all this time Mann's battery maintained its fire steadily, 
 effectively, and with great rapidity, under the excellent 
 handhng of Lieut. E. Brotzmann. 
 
 For five hours these brigades maintained their posi- 
 tion under repeated and heavy attacks, and endeavored, 
 with their thin ranks, to hold the space between Stew- 
 art and McClernand, and did check every attempt to 
 penetrate the line ; when, about three o'clock. Colonel 
 Stewart, on my left, sent me word that he was driven 
 in, and that I would be flanked on the left in a few 
 moments. It was necessary for me to decide at once 
 to abandon either the right or left. I considered that 
 Prentiss could, with the left of General McClernand's 
 troops, probably hold the right, and sent him notice to 
 reach out toward the right, and drop back steadily 
 parallel with my first brigade, while I rapidly moved 
 General Lanmann's from the right to the left, and 
 called up two twent3'-pound pieces of Major Cavender's 
 battalion to check the advance of the eneni}^ upon the 
 first brigade. These pieces were taken into action by 
 Doctor Cornine, the surgeon of the battalion, and 
 Lieut. Edwards, and eflTectually checked the eneni}-^ for 
 half an hour, giving me time to draw off" my crippled 
 artillery and to form a new front with the third brigade. 
 In a few minutes two Texas regiments crossed the 
 ridge separating m^' line from Stewart's former one, 
 while other troops also advanced. Willard's battery 
 was thrown into position under command of Lieut. 
 Wood, and opened with great effect upon the lone-star 
 flags, until their line of fire was obstructed bj^ the 
 charge of the third brigade, which, after delivering its 
 fire with great steadiness, charged full up the hill, and 
 drove the enemy three or four hundred yards. Per- 
 ceiving that a heavy force was closing on the left, 
 between my line and the river, while heavy fire con- 
 tinued on the right and front, I ordered ni}' line to fall 
 back. The retreat was made quietly and steadily-, and 
 in good order. I had hoped to make a stand on the 
 line of my camp ; but masses of the enemy were press- 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 83 
 
 ing rapidly on each flank, while their light artiller}' were 
 closing rapidh' in the rear. On reaching the twenty- 
 four-pounder siege-guns in battery, near the riyer, I 
 again succeeded in forming line of battle in rear of the 
 guns, and, by direction of Major-General Grant, I 
 assumed command of all the troops that came up. 
 Broken regiments and disordered battalions came into 
 line gradually upon my diyision. Major Cayender 
 posted six of his twenty-pound pieces on m}' right, and 
 I sent my aid to establish the light artillery — all that 
 could be found — on m\ left. Man}' officers and men 
 unknown to me, and whom I neyer desire to know, fled 
 in confusion through the line. Many gallant soldiers 
 and braye officers rallied steadil}^ on the new line. 
 
 I passed to the right, and found myself in communi- 
 cation with General Sherman, and receiyed his instruc- 
 tions. In a short time, the enemy appeared on the 
 crest of the ridge, led b}' the Eighteenth Louisiana, but 
 were cut to pieces by the steady and murderous lire of 
 our artillery. Dr. Cornine again took charge of one 
 of the heav}^ twentj^-four-pounders, and the line of fire 
 of that gun was the one upon which the other pieces 
 concentred. General Sherman's artillery', also, was 
 rapidl}' engaged ; and, after an artillery" contest of 
 some duration, the enem}^ fell back. Captain Gwinn, 
 United States Nayj-, had called upon me, b}^ one of his 
 officers, to mark the place the gun-boats might open 
 their fire. I adyised him to take position on the left of 
 my camp-ground, and open fire as soon as our fire was 
 within that line. He did so ; and from ni}' own obser- 
 vation, and the statement of prisoners, his fire was most 
 effectual in stopping the advance of the enemj^ on Sun- 
 day afternoon and night. 
 
 About dark the firing ceased. I advanced my di- 
 vision one hundred yards to the front, threw out pickets, 
 and officers and men bivouacked in a heavy storm of 
 rain. — Gen. Hurlbut. 
 
84 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 General Hurlbut's report is thus indorsed by 
 General Grant : — 
 
 " This is a fair, candid report, assuming none too 
 much for officers or men of the division. 
 
 *'U. S. Grant, 
 
 Major- General.'^ 
 
 Thus we have traced the history of the division 
 which met the very earliest attack, from three in the 
 morning to the end of that bloody day. Stewart's 
 brigade, detached at the left of Prentiss's main 
 force, had been driven back, as you have seen. The 
 Rebels in front of General Prentiss were under the 
 command of General Bragg. These accounts have 
 been by regimental officers and by General Hurl- 
 but. Uncle Fritz chose them as illustrations of the 
 way soldiers tell their story. Now you shall have 
 General Sherman's view of the whole, and of what 
 passed under his eye, stationed as he was on 
 Prentiss's right. To understand the time, you 
 should observe that it was a full hour after Pea- 
 body's outposts gave warning before they were 
 driven into Prentiss's camps. About seven the 
 Rebel General Gladden moved upon Prentiss's 
 centre, Chalmers's brigade on the left, and Jackson 
 on the right. Gladden was killed by a cannon- 
 shot. Peabody was mortally wounded in our lines. 
 Before nine o'clock the Confederates had driven 
 Prentiss from his camps. The attack on Sher- 
 man's front had been made at the same time, by 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 85 
 
 General Hardee. By eight o'clock the battle was 
 rao^inc]: on both these lines of attack. 
 
 About eight A.M., I saw the glistening bayonets of 
 heavy masses of infantiy to our left front in the woods 
 beyond the small stream alluded to, and became satis- 
 fied, for the first time, that the enem}' designed a de- 
 termined attack on our whole camp. All the regiments 
 of my division were then in line of battle at their proper 
 posts. I rode to Colonel Appier and ordered him to 
 hold his ground at all hazards, as he held the left flank 
 of our first line of battle. 1 informed him that he had 
 a good battery on his right, and strong supports to his 
 rear. ' General McClernand had promptly responded to 
 my request, and had sent me three regiments, which 
 were posted to protect Waterhouse's batter v and the 
 left flank of my line. The battle began by the eneni}^ 
 opening a batter}' in the woods to our front, and throw- 
 ing shells into our camp. Taylor's and Waterhouse's 
 batteries prompth' responded, and I then observed 
 heavy battalions of iutantr}' passing obliquely' to the 
 left, across the open field in Appier's front ; also other 
 columns advancing directly upon n\y division. Our 
 Infantry and artiller}' opened along the whole line, and 
 the battle became general. Other heavy masses of the 
 enemy's forces kept passing across the field to our left, 
 and directing their course on General Prentiss. I saw 
 at once that the enemy designed to pass my left flank, 
 and fall upon Generals McClernand and Prentiss, 
 whose line of camps was almost parallel with the Ten- 
 nessee River, and about two miles back from it. Yer}* 
 soon the sound of musketry and artiller}^ announced 
 that General Prentiss was engaged, and about nine 
 A. M. I judged that he was falling back. 
 
 About this time Appier's regiment broke in disorder, 
 soon followed by fugitives from Mungen's regiment, 
 and the enem}' pressed forward on AVaterhouse's bat- 
 ter}', thereby exposed. 
 
 The three Illinois regiments in immediate support of 
 
8Q STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 this battery stood for some time ; but the enemy's ad- 
 vance was so vigorous, and the fire so severe, that 
 when Colonel Raith, of the Forty-Third Illinois, re- 
 ceived a severe wound and fell from his horse, his 
 regiment and the others manifested disorder, and the 
 enem}^ got possession of three guns of this (Water- 
 house's) battery. Although our left w^as thus turned 
 and the enemy was pressing on the whole line, I 
 deemed vShiloh so important that I remained b}^ it and 
 renewed m}" orders to Colonels McDowell and Buckland 
 to hold their ground, and we did hold those positions 
 till about ten o'clock a.m., when the enem,}^ got his 
 artillery to the rear of our left flank, and some change 
 became absolutely necessary'. 
 
 Two regiments of Hildebrand's brigade, Appier's and 
 Mungen's, had alread}^ disappeared to the rear, and 
 Hildebrand's own regiment was in disorder, and there- 
 fore I gave directions for Taylor's batter^', still at 
 Shiloh, to fall back as far as the Purdy and Hamburg 
 road, and for McDowell and Buckland to adopt that 
 road as their new line. I rode across the angle, and 
 met Behr's battery at the cross roads, and ordered it 
 immediately to unlimber and come into battery, action 
 right. Captain Behr gave the order, but he was al- 
 most immediatel}' shot from his horse, when drivers 
 and gunners fled in disorder, carrying off the cais- 
 sons, and abandoning five out of six guns without fir- 
 ing a shot. The enemy pressed on, and we were again 
 forced to choose a new line of defence. Hildebrand's 
 brigade had substantially disappeared from the field, 
 though he himself bravely remained. McDowell's and 
 Buckland's brigades still retained their organization, 
 and were conducted by my aids so as to join on Gen- 
 eral McClernand's right, thus abandoning my original 
 camps and line. This was about half past ten a. m., 
 at which time the enemy had made a furious attack 
 on General McClernand's whole front. Finding him 
 pressed, I moved McDowell's brigade directh' against 
 the left flank of the enemy, forced him back some 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 87 
 
 distance, and then directed tlie men to avail them- 
 selves of eveiy cover, — trees, fallen timber, and a 
 wooded valley to our right. We held this position for 
 four long hours, sometimes gaining and at other times 
 losing ground. General McClernand and myself acting 
 in perfect concert, and struggling to maintain this line. 
 While we were so hardl}' pressed, two Iowa regiments 
 approached from the rear, but could not be brought 
 up to the severe fire that was raging in our front, and 
 General Grant, who visited us on that ground, will re- 
 member our situation about three p. m. ; but about four 
 p. M. it was evident that Hurlbut's line had been driven 
 back to the river, and, knowing thai General Lew Wal- 
 lace was coming from Crump's Landing with reinforce- 
 ments. General McClernand and I, on consultation, 
 selected a new line of defence, with its right covering 
 the bridge by which General Wallace had to approach.-^ 
 We fell back as well as we could, gathering, in addition 
 to our own, such scattered forces as we could find, and 
 formed a new line. 
 
 During this change the enemy's cavalry charged 
 us, but was handsomel}^ repulsed b}' an Illinois regi- 
 ment, whose number I did not learn at the time or 
 since. ^ The Fifth Ohio batterj', which had come up, 
 rendered good service in holding the enem}' in check 
 for some time ; and Major Taylor came up with a new 
 batter}^, and got into position just in time to get a good 
 flanking fire upon the enemy's columns as he pressed 
 on General McClernand's right, checking his advance, 
 when General McClernand's division made a fine charge 
 on the enem}', and drove him back into the ravines on 
 our front and right. I had a clear field, about two 
 hundred 3 ards wide, in m}^ immediate front, and con- 
 tented m3'self with keeping the enem3''s infantry at 
 that distance during the rest of the da}'. In this posi- 
 tion we rested for the night. — General Sherman. 
 
 1 But General Lew Wallace took the wrong road at starting, 
 and did not arrive before night. 
 
 2 It was the Twenty -ninth. 
 
88 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 And this must be all we can read of that terrible 
 first day at Shiloh, except one plucky little report 
 from an Illinois captain, who suspected that his 
 company had been accused of cowardice. As his 
 company lost even more than he says, — nainely, 
 six men killed and thirty-one wounded, — more 
 than half the number he took into action, he might 
 have left that record to speak for itself. Bat he 
 could not bear to have the living or the dead 
 maligned, so he sent in, " on his own hook," this 
 si^irited little narrative. 
 
 Dear Sir: — Enclosed please find list of killed, 
 wounded, and missing. I will avail myself of this 
 opportunit}' to give 3'ou a correct statement of things 
 that happened on the battle-field after our order to go 
 to the left (as to what happened before, there is no 
 dispute) . I was ordered there by our colonel, who led 
 the way in person to the hollow, where we had the 
 severest part of the action, in which I participated. 
 We fought there until ordered to leave b}' the colonel 
 in person ; then I moved off with m}' company in as 
 good order as the nature of the case would admit, and 
 can say that a large part of the regiment could have 
 been rallied anywhere from two hundred 3'ards of our 
 position to our quarters (where all assembled), if we 
 had had only one field-officer to have directed the move- 
 ment. I will also state that m}^ men had shot awa>' all 
 their ammunition, and in several instances had robbed 
 the boxes of the dead and wounded. Had we not been 
 compelled by the eneni}' to fall back, we could not have 
 held our position longer for want of ammunition. After 
 my arrival in camp, I beat towards the river with all 
 mj' compan}', — all that was not detached to take care 
 of the wounded. When we arrived at the guard I was 
 pleased, for that was the first thing I had seen that 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 89 
 
 looked like a place to stop ; here I stopped with my 
 squad, and with others formed and joined other frag- 
 ments of regiments and marched to the right, where we 
 la}' on our arms all night. The next morning, I picked 
 up until I had sixteen men and my first-lieutenant, and 
 with Captain Davidson (our surgeon captain) reported 
 to 3'ou for dut}' ; as to what occurred after this, you 
 know as well as I do. I have only to add that I went 
 into the action with fift3'-four men and three officers ; 
 lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, one lieutenant 
 and thirty men, leaving onl}^ twent3^-four to fight and 
 take care of the wounded. And let me say that a 
 braver or better-behaved compan}' of men never lived 
 on this continent ; 3'ou ma}' stigmatize me as a coward, 
 but please make an exception to the brave men under 
 my command. I am getting old, and my fighting time 
 is almost done, consequently it makes but little differ- 
 ence about me. I have a son and neighbor in this 
 action that his parent never expected to be disgraced 
 under my command. I also wear a sword presented to 
 me by an aged soldier father, who is still living to look 
 over the history of the Thirty-Second regiment Illinois 
 volunteers. What I say of my conduct, I suppose to 
 be true of other commanders of companies. . . . And 
 now allow me to say, to take everything into considera- 
 tion, I believe the Thirty-Second behaved as well, or 
 better, than any other regiment on the field that I have 
 heard of. I have only to add, that I expect never to 
 behave better in action while I live, and never expect a 
 better set of companies, consequently you need not 
 expect any better work of the Thirty- Second than they 
 have done. — Capt. Campbell, 32d Illinois. 
 
 Niglit found the lines of Sherman and Prentiss 
 forced back with their left on the river at the 
 Landing. But at the Landing a battery of great 
 force had been formed, and the gun-boats had 
 moved up so as to shell the enemy in the woods. 
 
90 STOnil^S TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Lew Wallace had at last arrived with his division 
 b}'' land, and General Baell with his by water, 
 so that the next day the tired regiments of Sun- 
 day's fight and the newly arrived reinforcements 
 had only to advance to drive the enemy back to 
 Corinth. 
 
 The Southern army had put all its men into the 
 battle. General Johnston, their commander-in- 
 chief, as well as Generals Gladden and Hindman. 
 were killed. On the Northern side, Prentiss had 
 been taken prisoner, and General W. H. L. Wallace 
 had been killed. 
 
 Of the second day the story is thus told by Gen- 
 eral Coppee : — 
 
 The fresh troops were placed in line as they came 
 upon the field, far in advance upon the ground aban- 
 doned b}^ Beauregard after the faihire of his last attack. 
 Nelson was on the left ; then, in order, Crittenden, Mc- 
 Cook, Hurlbut, McClernand, Sherman, and Lew Wal- 
 lace, the new line on the left nearly a mile in advance 
 of our position on Sunda}^ evening 
 
 The battle of Moncla}" began by a determined ad- 
 vance on our left and centre ; simultaneoush' with 
 which, Beauregard, having formed a strong rear-guard, 
 and whipping in all stragglers, undertook a vigorous 
 assault upon our left. He was still deceived into the 
 hope that he might capture the landing. The assault 
 upon Nelson was tremendous ; but while his troops 
 were wavering, in spite of all his efforts, the regular 
 battery of Captain IVIendon had, detached b}' Buell 
 from Crittenden's division, come into action, unlimber- 
 ing at a jump, while the Rebels were rushing forward, 
 and, by rapid discharges of grape and canister, hurled 
 them back. Again and again fresh troops were formed 
 
PITTSBURG LANDING. 91 
 
 upon oiir left, but only to be driven back. At length 
 Hazen's brigade charged, captured a Rebel battery, and 
 turned it upon the astonished enemy. 
 
 Once more a Rebel charge, and Hazen is driven back, 
 when Terrill's battery, of McCook's division, being in 
 search of its position, is posted b}' General Buell at 
 the contested point. He opens with shell from his 
 ten-pounders, and grape and canister from his brass 
 twelves, and the brunt of the battle burns low in Nel- 
 son's front. Buell has admirably posted his artillery, 
 and the guns have been splendidly served. Nelson 
 can move forward. On his right, Crittenden and Mc- 
 Cook advanced abreast, but to meet with a 'stubborn 
 resistance. Throughout the war, as numerous exam- 
 ples could testify', the Rebel generals alwaj^s sought to 
 pierce our line at its weakest point, — at some joint in 
 the armor. It was so now. In the slight interval 
 between Crittenden and McCook the}' endeavored to 
 force a passage. Rousseau, partially flanked, is driven 
 back, but ralhes upon the support of Kirk's and Gib- 
 son's brigades. 
 
 On the right, Sherman and AYallace have advanced 
 with ardor to the same ridge occupied by the former on 
 Sunday morning. But here again furious battle was to 
 be joined, for the Rebels, when satisfied that they could 
 eflfect nothing on the left, had countermarched their 
 troops to tiy the right once more, and the little log 
 church of Shiloh was again to witness a desperate 
 struggle. By well-concerted movements, our troops 
 are kept well abreast throughout the whole line, and 
 when at length a concerted advance was made, in spite 
 of the great efforts of the enemy, it was successful. By 
 four o'clock the rebel commander had seen the useless- 
 ness of further effort ; by half past five he was in full 
 retreat. — Gen. Coppee. 
 
 We cannot follow the details of the Western 
 campaign of that year ; but must pass to the 
 siege and capture of Vicksburg. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 VICKSBURG. 
 
 'T^HE control of the Mississippi River was, for 
 -*- eaoh party, one of the most important objects 
 of the war. The navigation of that river by steam- 
 boats is very important for the States which bor- 
 der upon it and its branches. It also gives a very 
 easy method for the movement of troops. The city 
 of New Orleans grew to be the great city it was, 
 before the days of railroads, when almost all the 
 articles of trade produced in these great States were 
 sent down the river on their way to the markets 
 where they were sold. Cotton, pork, sugar, hemp, 
 tobacco, corn, wheat, and other productions of the 
 fertile Western and Southwestern States, were 
 sent down the river by steamboats to New Orleans. 
 As railroads have been built from the Mississippi, 
 across the country eastward to the ocean, the river is 
 not now the only means these States have of send- 
 ing their produce to market. Still the Mississippi 
 River is a very important channel for trade, and so 
 it was in the time of the war. 
 
 The United States government had therefore 
 seized Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, in the very 
 
VJCKSBURG. 93 
 
 beginning of the war, and this had become an im- 
 portant central point, as a dep6t of troops, food, 
 and ammunition. The Rebels had seized Memphis, 
 which stands on a high bluff on the eastern side of 
 the river and commands the passage. By this 
 word " commands," this is meant, — that the bluff 
 is so high that cannons placed there are easily 
 fired downward upon vessels which try to pass, 
 v/hile it is impossible for them to fire guns up, so 
 as to strike such batteries on the shores with any 
 great effect. When the Rebel armies were driven 
 towards the south, they could not hold Memphis, 
 and they withdrew their forces there. But in 
 place of Memphis they fortified Vicksburg, a city 
 of Mississippi, and it became what President Jeffer- 
 son Davis called the " Gibraltar of America." ^ 
 
 On the next page is a map, to show you how 
 admirably Vicksburg is situated for stopping the 
 passage of the river. The Mississippi, in one of 
 its winding frolics, doubles right in front of 
 Vicksburg. The river itself is less than half a 
 mile wide. The little neck just opposite the 
 city is three quarters of a mile wide. The bluff 
 on which the city stands is abrupt, and rises 
 two hundred feet above the river. A steam- 
 boat, therefore, which tried to pass down the Mis- 
 sissippi in front of Vicksburg would have to pass 
 the batteries twice, — once northward, and again 
 
 1 Vicksburg is just below Walnut Hills, and just above the site 
 of Fort Adams. These places are often alluded to in the history 
 of the beginning of the century. 
 
94 
 
 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 close to the city southward. For, with guns as 
 high as two hundred feet above the object to be 
 struck, the distance even of a mile and three quar- 
 ters, which would be the farthest which a steam- 
 
 boat could take, would not be greater than the shot 
 could be thrown. Of course, when the boat turned 
 to go south, it would be close under the batteries. 
 The Rebels availed themselves careful!}^ of these 
 advantages. They also fortified Port Hudson, in 
 Louisiana, lower down, for the purpose of prevent- 
 ing boats from coming up the river. 
 
VICKSBURG. 95 
 
 To open the river again General Grant was to 
 take Vicksburg, and General Banks to take Port 
 Hudson. Each army had the assistance of what 
 President Lincoln called " our web-footed allies,'* 
 by which he meant the vessels of the navy. With 
 Grant was Admiral Porter, who had sixty vessels 
 of all sorts, mostly river steamers ; this fleet carried 
 eight hundred men and two hundred and eighty 
 guns. At the beginning of the year 1863, when 
 the operations against Vicksburg began. Grant's 
 army, at all the posts of the Department of the Ten- 
 nessee, was one hundred and thirty thousand men. 
 
 General Grant took personal command of the 
 movement against Vicksburg on the 30th of Jan- 
 uary, 1863. On the 4th of July of that year, Gen- 
 eral Pemberton, the Rebel general who commanded 
 there, surrendered it to General Grant. In that 
 surrender Grant took prisoners thirty-one thou- 
 sand six hundred men, and one hundred and 
 seventy-two cannon. This was, at that time, the 
 largest capture of men and material ever made in 
 war. Before it took place, a campaign of very 
 great variety had occupied five months. Many 
 battles had been fought, — many plans formed and 
 failed, — and the result was due to one of the most 
 ingenious, as it was one of the boldest, military 
 combinations. It will always be a campaign which 
 young soldiers will study with great interest. It 
 is the campaign in which General Grant won his 
 reputation as one of the first soldiers of this time, 
 
96 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 — in which he conciliated the regard of his most 
 skilful subordinates, — and won the respect and 
 admiration of his superiors, General Halleck and 
 President Lincoln. 
 
 So I shall let you boys, and any girls who 
 have sense enough to read stories of war, have a 
 longer chapter about the campaign against Vicks- 
 burg, than we have yet had about any other single 
 event in this history. 
 
 The first plan made was to dig a canal across 
 the neck of land, or peninsula in front of Vicks- 
 burg, — below the city, — at a point where the 
 isthmus was only a mile and a fifth in width. This 
 had been begun before General Grant's arrival. 
 If a canal could have been made large enough for 
 large steamboats, then, no matter how strong were 
 the fortifications of Vicksburg, the boats would pass 
 through, far away from their fire. So a canal ten 
 feet wide and six deep was made here, in the hope 
 that the freshets of the river would widen it, and 
 so make it large enough for large steamers. But 
 very little came of the canal. When the river did 
 rise, it would not flow where it was meant to do. 
 It flooded the camps of the workmen. Meanwhile, 
 the Rebels had made new batteries below it. Thus 
 ended plan number one. Another similar plan, to 
 open a route by Lake Providence and Bayou Bax- 
 ter, Bayou Magon, and the Washita and Red River, 
 did not succeed better. The canals attempted here 
 were both on the west of the river. A very bold 
 
VICKSBURG. 97 
 
 attempt was made on the east side, by what was 
 known as the Yazoo Pass, into the Tallahatchee 
 and Yazoo River. The expeditions sent by this 
 route would come out above Vicksburg ; but it 
 was hoped that thus the Rebel gunboats on the 
 Yazoo River might be destroyed. If a practicable 
 route were made here, the whole army could be 
 moved to Haine's Bluff, — above Vicksburg, — an 
 upland region very desirable for occupation. But 
 nothing came of this movement, though some hard 
 work and some hard fighting were done in it. What 
 resulted of importance was, that the troops found 
 their way into the granary from which Vicksburg 
 had been fed ; and in the resistance, many of the 
 Rebel stores were destro3^ed. In such attempts 
 February and March passed away. Meanwhile, 
 Admiral Farragut, of the navy, ran by the Rebel 
 batteries at Port Hudson, so that he communicated 
 with Grant below Vicksburg, — and Grant could 
 communicate with General Banks, who was trying 
 to do at Port Hudson what Grant was trying to do 
 above. The distance from Vicksburg to Port Hud- 
 son is about one hundred and twenty miles in a 
 straight line, and more than twice that by the 
 crooked river. 
 
 Grant now determined to pass the city of Vicks- 
 burg on the west side of the river by marching his 
 army by land — with the help of boats on some 
 bayous if possible — from Milliken's Bend, which is 
 twenty miles above Vicksburg, to New Carthage, 
 
 7 
 
98 ' STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 which is about as far below. At his request Admi- 
 ral Porter sent seven of his iron-clads, with three 
 steamers and ten barges, down the river, past the 
 Rebel batteries. They were well laden with forage 
 and supplies. The crews of all but one refused to 
 go. But volunteers from the army offered, enough 
 to man a hundred vessels had they been needed. 
 On a dark night, of the 16th of April, led by 
 Admiral Porter, they steamed down, Avith the 
 barges in tow. They turned the bend without 
 being noticed. ' Then the first batteries opened on 
 them. The Rebels set fire to houses so as to light 
 up the scene ; and from the ships the crews could 
 see the men at the batteries and in the streets of 
 Vicksburg. Though every vessel was hit, all 
 got by, except the Henry Clay steamer. Finding 
 she was sinking, her commander cut off the barge 
 he was towing, which drifted safely down, and, soon 
 after, the vessel herself took fire. The crew es- 
 caped in their boats, — the vessel blazed up and 
 lighted up all around. At last, however, after the 
 boats had been under fire two hours and forty 
 minutes, the whole fleet except the Henry Clay 
 arrived safely below the batteries. Grant had thus 
 secured, not onl}^ forage and stores, but the means 
 of transportation. On the 26th of April five more 
 vessels passed successfully, one being lost as before. 
 Grant was now stronjy enouixh to cross the Missis- 
 sippi River. His army had to march seventy miles 
 on the west side by muddy roads, scarcely above 
 
VICKSBURG. 99 
 
 the river line. He feared he might have to go as 
 far down as a little town called Rodney for a good 
 landing-place on the east side. But a friendly 
 negro man, who knew the country, brought in infor- 
 mation that there was a good road inland from Bru- 
 iusburg, — and so it proved. Grand Gulf, on the 
 river, where the Rebels had a post, was still between 
 Grant and Bruinsburg. Porter attacked it with 
 his gun-boats, and Grant was ready to land ten 
 thousand troops to storm the place if the batteries 
 were silenced. But Porter did not succeed. Grant 
 therefore marched his troops down on the west 
 side of the river. Porter ran by Grand Gulf with 
 transports in the night, and, on the morning of the 
 30th of April, Grant crossed the river with ten 
 thousand men. They did not carry a tent nor a 
 wagon. General Grant and his staff went without 
 their horses. It was said afterwards that his whole 
 baggage was a toothbrush ! 
 
 Other divisions followed, and on the 3d of May 
 he left the river, and marched, not directly on 
 Vicksburg, but more inland, to cut off all commu- 
 nication with that city. His army took three days* 
 rations with them, and relied principally for pro- 
 visions on the stores in the rich country through 
 which they marched. In the twenty days which 
 followed, they fought the battles of Port Gibson, 
 of Raymond, and of Jackson, and took the city 
 of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. Then 
 Grant turned back upon Vicksburg, and before 
 
100 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 May ended fought a very severe battle at Cham- 
 pion Hill, and in another gained the passage of 
 Black River. By these actions, in all of which 
 he succeeded, he separated General Pemberton and 
 his army in Vicksburg from General J. E. John- 
 ston, who was trying to relieve him. Pemberton 
 was obliged to fall back into Vicksburg. 
 
 Grant assaulted it, without success, on the 19th 
 of May, hoping to take it by storm. The works 
 were too strong, and the assaulting parties, after 
 gaining some few outworks, were all thrown back. 
 A regular siege then began, and Vicksburg surren- 
 dered, as has been said, on the 4th of July. 
 
 Now you are ready for some scraps of letters and 
 despatches which will give details of some of these 
 all-important movements and battles. 
 
 First you shall read one of General Sherman's 
 and then one of General Grant's brief histories. 
 After these come as many other accounts as we 
 can make room for. 
 
 THE YAZOO RIVER. 
 
 On Sunday morning, March 21st, as soon as daylight 
 appeared, we started, following the same route which 
 Giles A. Smith had taken the day before ; the battalion 
 of the Thirteenth United States Regulars, Major Chase, 
 in the lead. We could hear Porter's guns, and knew 
 that moments were precious. Being on foot myself, no 
 man could complain, and we generally went at the 
 double-quick, with occasional rests. The road lay along 
 Deer Creek, passing several plantations ; and occasion- 
 ally, at the bends, it crossed the swamp, where the water 
 
VICKSBURG. 101 
 
 came above m}'^ hips. The smaller drommer-boys had 
 to cany their drums on their heads, and most of the 
 men slung their cartridge-boxes around their necks. 
 The soldiers generally were glad to have their general 
 and jfield-officers afoot, but we gave them a fair speci- 
 men of marching, accompUshing about twenty-one miles 
 by noon. Of course, our speed was accelerated by the 
 sounds of the navy guns, which became more and more 
 distinct, though we could see nothing. At a plantation 
 near some Indian mounds, we met a detachment of the 
 Eighth Missouri, that had been up to the fleet, and had 
 been sent down as a picket to prevent any obstructions 
 below. This picket reported that Admiral Porter had 
 found Deer Creek badly obstructed, had turned back, 
 that there was a Rebel force be3-ond the fleet, with some 
 six-pounders, and nothing between us and the fleet. So 
 I sat down on the door-sill of a cabin to rest, but had 
 not been seated ten minutes when, in the wood just 
 ahead, not three hundred 3'ards off, I heard quick and 
 rapid firing of musketry. Jumping up, I ran up the 
 road, and found Lieut. -Col. Rice, who said the head 
 of his column had struck a small force of Rebels 
 with a working gang of negroes, provided with axes, 
 who in the first fire had broken and run back into the 
 swamp. I ordered Rice to deploy his brigade, his left 
 on the road and extending as far into the swamp as the 
 ground would permit, and then to sweep forward until 
 he covered the gun-boats. The movement was rapid 
 and well executed, and we soon came to some large 
 cotton-fields and could see our gun-boats in Deer 
 Creek, occasionall}^ firing a heavy eight-inch gun across 
 the cotton-fields into the swamp behind. About that 
 time a Major Kirby, of the Eighth Missouri, galloped 
 down the road on a horse he had picked up the night 
 before, and met me. He explained the situation of af- 
 fairs, and off'ered me his horse. I got on bare-back^ and 
 rode up the Levee, the sailors coming out of their iron- 
 clads and cheering most vociferously as I rode by, and 
 as our men swept forward across the cotton-field in 
 
102 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 full view. I soon found Admiral Porter, who was on 
 the deck of one of his iron-clads, with a shield made of 
 the section of a smoke-stack, and I doubt if he was ever 
 more glad to meet a friend than he was to see me. He 
 explained that he had almost reached the Rolling Fork, 
 when the woods became full of sharp-shooters, who, 
 taking advantage of trees, stumps, and the Levee, would 
 shoot down every man that poked his nose outside the 
 protection of his armor ; so he could not handle his 
 clums}' boats in the narrow channel. The Rebels had 
 evidentl}' despatched a force from Haines's Bluff up the 
 Sunflower, to the Rolling Fork, had anticipated the 
 movement of Admiral Porter's fleet, and had completely 
 obstructed the channel of the upper part of Deer Creek 
 by felling trees into i't, so that further progress in that 
 direction was simply impossible. It also happened 
 that, at the instant of my arrival, a party of about four 
 hundred Rebels, armed, and supplied with axes, had 
 passed around the fleet, and had got below it, intending 
 in like manner to block up the channel b}' the felling of 
 trees, so as to cut off retreat. This was the force we 
 had struck so opportunely at the time before described. 
 I inquired of Admiral Porter what he proposed to do, 
 and he said he wanted to get out of that scrape as 
 quickl}' as possible. He was actually working back 
 when I met him, and, as we then had a suflicient force 
 to cover his movement completely, he continued to back 
 down Deer Creek. He informed me at one time things 
 looked so critical that he had made up his mind to blow 
 up the gun-boats, and to escape with his men through 
 the swamps to the Mississippi River. There being no 
 longer any sharp-shooters to bother the sailors, they 
 made good progress ; still it took three full days for the 
 fleet to back out of Deer Creek into Black Bayou, at 
 Hill's plantation, whence Admiral Porter proceeded to 
 his post at the mouth of the Yazoo, leaving Captain 
 Owen in command of the fleet. I reported the facts to 
 General Grant, who was sadly disappointed at the fail- 
 ure of the fleet to get through to the Yazoo above 
 
VICKSBURG. 103 
 
 Haines's Bluff, and ordered us all to resume our camps 
 at Young's Point. We according!}- steamed down, and 
 regained our camps on the 27th. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 GEN. GRANT S LETTER TO GEN. HALLECK. 
 
 Grand Gulf, Miss., May 3, 1863. 
 
 On the 29th of April, Admiral Porter attacked the 
 fortifications at this place with seven iron-clads, com- 
 mencing at eight o'clock a. m., and continuing until 
 half past one, engaging them at ver}^ close quarters, 
 many times not being more than one hundred 3'ards 
 from the enem^-'s guns. During this time, I had about 
 ten thousand troops on board transports and barges, 
 ready to land them, and carry the place by storm the 
 moment the batteries bearing upon the river were 
 silenced, so as to make the landing practicable. From 
 the great elevation the enemy's batteries had, it proved 
 entireh' impracticable to silence them from the river ; 
 and when the gun-boats were drawn off, I decided im- 
 mediatel}^ upon landing my forces on the Louisiana 
 shore, and marching them across the point below Grand 
 Gulf. 
 
 At night the gun-boats made another vigorous attack, 
 and in the mean time the transports safel}' ran the block- 
 ade, and on the following day the whole force with me 
 was transferred to Bruinsburg, the first point of land 
 below Grand Gulf where the interior can be reached, 
 and the march immediateh- commenced for Port Gib- 
 son. General McClernand was in the advance, with the 
 Thirteenth Army Corps. About two a. m., on the 1st of 
 May, when about four miles from Port Gibson, he met 
 the enem}-. Some little skirmishing took place before 
 da3iigbt, but not to any great extent. The Thirteenth 
 Corps was followed by Logan's division of McPherson's 
 corps, which reached the scene of action as soon as the 
 last of the Thirteenth Corps was out of the road. The 
 fighting continued all day, and after dark, over the most 
 
104 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 broken coimtiy I ever saw. The whole countrj- is a 
 series of irregular ridges, divided b}' deep and imprac- 
 ticable ravines, grown up with heav}^ timber, under- 
 growth, and cane. It was impossible to engage any 
 considerable portion of our force at an}' one time. The 
 eneni}' were driven, however, from point to point, to- 
 wards Port Gibson, until night closed in, under which, 
 it was evident to me, they intended to retreat. The 
 pursuit was continued after dark, until the enemy was 
 again met by Logan's division, about two miles from 
 Port Gibson. The nature of the countrj- is such, that 
 further pursuit in the dark was not deemed prudent 
 or advisable. On the 2d, our troops moved into the 
 town without finding any enemy except their wounded. 
 The bridge across Bayou Pierre, about two miles from 
 Port Gibson, on the Grand Gulf road, had been de- 
 stro3'ed, and also the bridge immediately at Port Gib- 
 son, on the Vicksburg road. The eneni}' retreated over 
 both these routes, leaving a battery and several regi- 
 ments of infantry at the former, to prevent a reconstruc- 
 tion of the first bridge. One brigade, under General 
 Stevenson, was detached to drive the enemy from this 
 position, or occupy his attention, and a heavy detail set 
 to work, under Lieut. -Col. Wilson and Captain Tresil- 
 lian, to reconstruct the bridge over the other. This work 
 was accomplished, a bridge and roadwa}' (over a hun- 
 dred and twent}' feet long) made, and the whole of 
 McPherson's two divisions marched over before night. 
 This corps then marched to the north fork of Bayou 
 Pierre, rebuilt a bridge over that stream, and was on 
 the march by five and a half a. m. to-day. Soon after 
 crossing the Ba3'ou, our troops were opened on by the 
 enemy's artillery. It was soon demonstrated that this 
 was only intended to cover the retreat of the main 
 army. On arriving at Willow Springs, General Mc- 
 pherson was directed to hold the position from there 
 to the Big Black with one division, and General Mc- 
 Clernand, on his arrival, to join him in this duty. I 
 immediately started for this place with one brigade of 
 
VICKSBURG. 105 
 
 Logan's division, and some cavalry (twenty men). 
 Tiie brigade of infantry was left about seven miles from 
 here, contrabands and prisoners taken having stated 
 that the last of the retreating enem}' had passed that 
 point. The woods between here and the crossing of 
 the Big Black are evidently filled 3'et with the detach- 
 ments of the enemy, and some artiller}'. I am in 
 hopes man}' of them will be picked np b}' our forces. 
 
 Our loss will not exceed one hundred and fifty killed, 
 and five hundred wounded. The enem3''s loss is prob- 
 ably about the same. We have, however, some five 
 hundred of their men prisoners, and may pick up many 
 more 3'et. Man}' stragglers, particularly from the Mis- 
 souri troops, no doubt have fallen out, and will never 
 join their regiments again. 
 
 The move by Bruinsburg undoubtedly took the enemy 
 by surprise. General Bowen's (the Rebel commander's) 
 defence was a good one, and well carried out. My 
 force, however, was too heavy for his, and composed 
 of well-disciplined and hardy men, who know no defeat 
 and are not willing to learn what it is. 
 
 This army is in the finest health and spirits. Since 
 leaving MiUiken's Bend, they have marched as much by 
 night as by day, through mud and rain, without tents 
 or much other baggage, and on irregular rations, with- 
 out a complaint, and with less straggling than I have 
 ever before witnessed. 
 
 Colonel Grierson's raid from La Grange, through 
 Mississippi, has been the most successful thing of the 
 kind since the breaking out of the Rebelhon. He 
 was five miles south of Pontotoc on the 19th of April. 
 The next place he turned up at was Newton, about 
 thirty miles east of Jackson. From there he has gone 
 south, touching at Hazlehurst, Bahala, and various 
 places. The Southern papers and Southern people re- 
 gard it as one of the most daring exploits of the war. 
 I am told the whole State is full of men paroled by 
 Grierson. — Gen. Grant. 
 
106 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 THE ATTACK OF THE 22D OF MAY. 
 
 grant's CADET. 
 
 Lawler's brigade in Carr's division, which had carried 
 the tete-dii-pont on the Big Black River, dashed forward 
 with its old impetuosity, supported b}' Landrum's bri- 
 gade of Smith's division ; and, in less than fifteen min- 
 utes, a part of one regiment, the Twentj'-second Iowa, 
 succeeded in crossing the ditch and parapet of a Rebel 
 outwork ; but, not receiving the support of the rest of 
 the column, could not push further, nor drive the enemy 
 from the main work immediately in the rear. A hand- 
 to-hand fight here ensued, lasting several minutes ; 
 hand-grenades also were thrown by the Rebels in the 
 rear, while the National troops still commanded the 
 outer parapet. Every man in the party except one was 
 shot down. Sergeant Joseph Griffith, of the Twenty- 
 second Iowa, fell at the same time with his comrades, 
 stunned, but not seriously hurt. On his recover}', he 
 found a Rebel lieutenant and sixteen men lying in the 
 outwork, still un wounded, though exposed to the fire of 
 both friend and foe. He rose, and bade them follow 
 him out of the place, too hot for any man to stay and 
 live. The Rebels obeyed, and, calling to the troops 
 outside to cease their firing, Griffith brought his pris- 
 oners over the parapet, under a storm of Rebel shot that 
 killed four of those so willing to surrender. For this 
 act of gallantry, Griffith was next day promoted by 
 Grant to a first lieutenanc}', thus literally, like a knight 
 of the Middle Ages, winning his spurs on the field. 
 He was not twenty jears old, and shortly afterwards 
 received an appointment to the Military Academy 
 at West Point, where he was known as "Grant's 
 Cadet," and graduated in 1867, fifth in his class. — 
 Gen. Badeau, 
 
VICKSBURG. 107 
 
 THE FLAGS ON THE PARAPET. 
 
 The colors of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Illinois 
 were now planted on the counterscarp, and those of two 
 other regiments were also raised on the exterior slope of 
 the parapet. The work, however, was completel}' com- 
 manded b}^ others in the rear, and no real possession of 
 it was gained by the National soldiers. But the troops 
 remained in the ditch for hours, although hand-grenades 
 and loaded shells were rolled over on them from the 
 parapet. The colors were not removed ; as often as a 
 Rebel attempted to gi-asp the staff, he was shot down b}^ 
 soldiers in the ditch ; and the National flags waved all 
 da}' on the Rebel work, neither part}^ able to secure 
 them, but each preventing their seizure by the other. 
 After dark, a National soldier climbed up stealthily 
 and snatched one of the flags away ; the other was 
 captured b}^ a Rebel, in the same manner, leaning over 
 suddenly from above. — Gen. Badeau. 
 
 A HOT PLACE. 
 
 General A. J. Smith had been ordered by McClernand 
 to get two guns up to this position, and called upon five 
 or six batteries successively ; but the captains all pro- 
 tested that it was impossible to drag guns, b}^ hand, 
 down one slope and up another under fire. Smith 
 however, exclaimed, "• I know a battery that will go to 
 hell if 3-ou order it there." So he sent for Captain 
 AVhite, of the Chicago Mercantile Batter}^, and told him 
 what he wanted. AVhite repHed, '' Yes, sir, I will take' 
 my guns there." And his men actuaHy dragged the 
 pieces over the rough ground, hy hand, carrying the 
 ammunition in their haversacks. One gun was stuck 
 on the way, but the other they hauled up so near the 
 Rebel works, that it was difficult to elevate it sufficiently 
 to be of use ; finally, however. White succeeded in firing 
 it hito an embrasure, disabling a gun just ready to be 
 
108 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 discharged, and scattering death among the Rebel can- 
 noneers. A detachment here got into the work, but the 
 Rebels rallied and captured ever}- man. These were the 
 only troops that actually carried or gained possession 
 even for a moment of an}^ portion of the enemy's line. 
 — Gen. Badeau. 
 
 CAVE LIFE IN VICKSBURG. — THE CAVES. 
 
 Our new habitation was an excavation made in an 
 earth-bank and branching six feet from the entrance, 
 forming a cave in the shape of a T. In one of the wings 
 my bed fitted ; the other I used as a kind of dressing- 
 room ; in this the earth had been cut down a foot or 
 two below the floor of the main cave. I could stand 
 erect here ; and when tired of sitting in other portions 
 of my residence, I bowed myself into it, and stood im- 
 passivel}" resting at full height, — one of the variations 
 in the still, shell-expectant life 
 
 THE SHELLS. 
 
 My heart stood still as we would hear the reports 
 from the guns, and the rushing and fearful sound of the 
 shell as it came toward us. As it neared, the noise 
 became more deafening ; the air was full of the rushing 
 sound ; pains darted through m}- temples, my ears were 
 full of the confusing noise ; and, as it exploded, the 
 report flashed through my head like an electric shock, 
 leaving me in a quiet state of terror, the most painful 
 that I can imagine, — cowering in a corner, holding my 
 child to my heart, — the onl}- feeling of my life being the 
 choking throbs of my heart, that rendered me almost 
 breathless. As singly they fell short, or be3'ond the 
 cave, I was aroused by a feeling of thankfulness that 
 was of short duration. Again and again the terrible 
 fright came over us in that nioht. 
 
 I saw one fall in the road without the mouth of the 
 cave, like a flame of fire, making the earth tremble, and, 
 
VICKSBURG. 109 
 
 with a low, singing sound, the fragments sped on in 
 their work of death. 
 
 Morning found us more dead than alive, with blanched 
 faces and trembling lips. AYe were not reassured on 
 hearing, from a man who took refuge in the cave, that 
 a mortar shell in falling would not consider the thick- 
 ness of the earth above us a circumstance. 
 
 Some of the ladies, more courageous by dajdight, 
 asked him what he was in there for, if that was the 
 case. He was silenced for an hour, when he left 
 
 PRECAUTIONS. 
 
 The night was so warm, and the cave so close, that 
 I tried to sit out at the entrance ; George [the servant] 
 saying he would keep watch, and tell when they were 
 failing toward us. Soon the report of the gun would be 
 heard, and George, standing on the hillock of loose 
 earth near the cave, looked intently upward ; while I, 
 with suspended breath, would listen anxiouslj', as he 
 cried, " Here she comes ! going right over ! " then again, 
 "• Coming, — falling, — falling right dis wa}' ! " Then 
 I would spring to my feet, and for a moment hesitate 
 about the protection of the cave. Suddenl}", as the 
 rushing descent was heard, I would beat a precipitate 
 retreat into it, followed by the servant 
 
 A RESCUE. 
 
 I ran to the little dressing-room, and could hear them 
 striking around us on all sides. I crouched closely 
 ajjfainst the wall, for I did not know at what moment 
 one might strike within the cave. A man came in much 
 frightened, and asked to remain until the danger was 
 over. The servants stood in the little niche by the bed, 
 and the man took refuge in the small ell where I was 
 stationed. He had been there but a short time, stand- 
 ing in front of me, and near the wall, when a Parrott 
 shell came whirling in at the entrance, and fell in the 
 
110 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 centre of the cave before us all, lying there smoking. 
 Our eyes were fastened upon it, while we expected every 
 moment the terrific explosion would ensue. I pressed 
 m}' child closer to my heart, and drew nearer to the 
 wall. Our fate seemed almost certain. The poor man 
 who had sought refuge within was most exposed of all. 
 "With a sudden impulse, I seized a large double blanket 
 that lay near, and gave it to him for the purpose ot 
 shielding him from the fragments ; and thus we re- 
 mained for a moment, with our eyes fixed in terror on 
 the missile of death, when George, the servant boy, 
 rushed forward, seized the shell, and thi-ew it into the 
 street, running swiftly in the opposite direction. For- 
 tunately, the fuse had become nearly extinguished, and 
 the shell fell harmless, — remaining near the mouth of 
 the cave, as a troph}- of the fearlessness of the servant 
 and our remarkable escape 
 
 Nor was this all. I had occasion to go to the mouth 
 of the cave one evening to speak to George ; and there, 
 with an enlightened audience of servants from the sur- 
 rounding caves collected near him, George was going 
 through a grave pantomime of the whole affair. It seems 
 that he expected the refugee to act the part of preserver 
 in our extremit}', and throw out the shell ; but, as he 
 was disappointed in the matter, he represented him in 
 the most ridiculous manner possible to the audience. 
 
 Pressing up closely to the wheel of a wagon near b}^ 
 George extended his eyes, holding out his hand as with 
 a shell, and shrinking with the semblance of extreme 
 terror, that amused his spectators vastl}' ; then, chan- 
 ging the whole character, he put on the bravest port 
 imaginable, pushing his hat, with an independent air, 
 on the side of his head, and, assuming a don't-carish 
 look, he sauntered forward to a large piece of shell that 
 lay conveniently near, caught it with both hands, gave 
 it a careless swing and throw far different from the 
 realit}', tnrned on his heels, walked back to the wagon, 
 with the peculiar swinging step of a proud negro ; then, 
 leaning his arm on the wheel, carelessly surveyed his 
 
VICKSBURG. Ill 
 
 audience with a look that plainl}- said, " What do you 
 think o' dat, niggers ?".... 
 
 IN THE RIFLE-PITS. 
 
 So they sat cramped up all day in the pits, their 
 rations cooked in the valleT and brought to them, — 
 scarcel}' daring to change their positions and stand 
 erect, for the Federal sharp-shooters were watching for 
 their heads ; and to rise above the breastworks was 
 almost certain death • 
 
 They amused themselves, while lying in the pits, by 
 cutting out little trinkets from the wood of the parapet 
 and the Minie balls that fell around them. Major Fry, 
 from Texas, excelled in skill and ready invention ; . . . . 
 he sent me one day an arm-chair that he had cut from 
 a Minie ball, — the most minute affair of the kind I ever 
 saw, 3'et perfectly symmetrical. At another time he 
 sent me a diminutive plough, made from the parapet 
 work, with traces of lead, and a lead point made from 
 a Minie ball 
 
 SHBAPNEL. 
 
 ^ There is one missile, were I a soldier, that would 
 totally put me to rout, — and that is a Shrapnel shell. 
 Only those who have heard several coming at a time, 
 exploding near, and scattering several hundreds of 
 small balls around, can tell how fearful is the noise 
 they make, — a wild scream, — a clattering and whiz- 
 zing sound that never fails in striking terror to my 
 heart ! It seemed sometimes that as many as fifty 
 balls fell immediately around our door. I could have 
 sent out at an}- time, near the entrance of our cave, 
 and had a bucketful of balls from Shrapnel and the 
 Minie rifle, picked up in the shortest possible time. — 
 A Southern Lady. 
 
112 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 CONDUCT OF THE SIEGE. 
 
 The lack of engineer officers gave the siege one of its 
 peculiar characteristics ; at man}' times, and at different 
 places, the work to be done depended on officers and 
 men without either theoretical or practical knowledge 
 of siege operations, and who had, therefore, to rely, 
 almost exclusively, on their native good-sense and in- 
 genuity. Whether a battery was to be constructed by 
 men who had never built one before, or sap-rollers 
 made b^' those who had never heard the name, or a 
 ship's gun-carriage put together by infantr}' soldiers, it 
 was always done, and, after a few trials, well done. 
 This fertility of resource and power of adaptation to 
 circumstances, possessed in so high a degree b}^ the 
 volunteers, was, however, displaced while a relieving 
 force was gathering in Grant's rear. ' Officers and men 
 had to learn to be engineers while the siege was going 
 on. Much valuable time was in this wa}' lost, and 
 manj" a shovelful of earth was thrown that brought the 
 siege no nearer to an end. 
 
 One result of this scarcity of engineers was, that 
 Grant gave more personal attention to the supervision 
 of the siege than he would otherwise have done. His 
 military education fitted him for the duty, and he rode 
 daily around the lines, directing the scientific opera- 
 tions, infusing his spirit into all his subordinates, 
 pressing them on with energy to the completion of their 
 task, and, with unflagging persistenc}', devising and 
 emplo3'ing ever}' means to bring about the great end to 
 which all labor, skill, and acquirement was made to 
 tend 
 
 At one point the enemy's salient was too high for the 
 besiegers to be able to return the hand-grenades which 
 were thrown into the trenches so freely. There were 
 no Cohorn mortars with the arm}-, and wooden mortars 
 were therefore made, by shrinking iron bands on cyhn- 
 ders of tough wood, and boring them out for six and 
 
VICKSDURG. 113 
 
 twelve pound shells. These mortars stood firing well, 
 and gave good results at a distance of one hundred or 
 one hundred and fifty 3'ards. — Gen. Badeau. 
 
 grant's confidence in himself. 
 
 He was one da}^ riding around his lines, and stopped 
 for water at the house of a Rebel woman who had re- 
 mained within her shattered walls, not changing her 
 dislo3-al sentiments. She asked Grant, tauntingly, if 
 he expected ever to get into Vicksburg. " Certainlj^,'* 
 he rephed. "But when?" "I cannot tell exactly 
 when I shall take the town, but / mean to stay here till 
 I do, if it takes me thirty years." The woman's heart 
 seemed to fail her at the reply. Apparently, she had 
 hoped that her friends would be able to tire out the be- 
 siegers, even if thej^ could not drive them off; but this 
 waiting thirty 3'ears, if necessary, was a greater per- 
 sistency than she had contemplated. — Gen. Badeau. 
 
 THE MINES. 
 
 Meanwhile the head of sap had reached the ene- 
 mj-'s lines, on the Grave-3'ard and Jackson roads, and 
 in Ransom's front as well as on the Baldwin and Hall's 
 Feny roads. Mining had been resorted to by both be- 
 siegers and besieged, and, on the Jackson road, Grant 
 fired a heav}- mine on the 25th of June. It extended 
 thirt3'-five feet from the point of starting ; fifteen hun- 
 dred pounds of powder were deposited in three different 
 branch mines, and seven hundred in the centre one ; 
 fuses were arranged so as to explode them all at the same 
 instant, and the mine was tamped with cross-timbers 
 and sand-bags. Troops were disposed so as to take ad- 
 vantage of any result. At three and a half p. m. the 
 explosion took place, and a heavy artillery-fire opened 
 along the line at the same moment. Huge masses of 
 earth were thrown up in the air, and the ground was 
 shaken as if by a volcano. As soon as the earth was 
 
 8 
 
114 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 rent, a bright glare of fire issued from the burning 
 powder, but quickl}^ died awa}', as there was nothing 
 combustible in the fort. A few Rebel soldiers were 
 hurled into the air, one or two of whom came down 
 alive inside the National lines. The enemy, however, 
 had detected the building of the mine, and, in anticipa- 
 tion of the explosion, removed most of his troops be- 
 hind a new line in the rear. Countermining had also 
 been resorted to by the Rebels, and several sappers who 
 were in the lower shaft were buried ; all the troops in 
 the neighborhood were jarred b}' the shock. 
 
 The cavit}' made was large enough to hold two regi- 
 ments, and, as soon as the partial destruction of the 
 parapet was discovered, a column of Grant's infantry, 
 which had been concealed in a hollow beneath the fort, 
 rushed forward with loud cheers to gain possession of 
 the breach. The ditch and slope were gained, and a 
 desperate struggle ensued in the crater, but the Rebels 
 soon retired to their interior line, only a few feet back. 
 Pioneers went to work at once, clearing an entrance to 
 the crater ; but both sides were reinforced promptly', and 
 no farther result was attained. The loss to the National 
 side was thirty men in killed and wounded, and to the 
 besieged about the same. 
 
 The crater was cone-shaped, and entirel}" exposed to 
 field projectiles or loaded shells thrown by hand, but 
 McPherson's men rushed into the gulf, lighting and 
 throwing grenades in return. The enemy, however, 
 from his higher position, could throw ten shells to their 
 one, and, in nearh' every case, with deadly effect; in- 
 deed, the Rebels had only to lay the Hghted missiles on 
 the parapet and roll them down. But, on the night 
 after the explosion, details from Leggett's brigade re- 
 lieved each other in the attempt to hold the crater. No 
 sj'stematic attempt could be made to cany the enemy's 
 work, or to take possession of his parapet and run 
 boyaux along the exterior slope ; yet, all night long, 
 parties of men, fifty, sixty, or eight}' at a time, stood in 
 the crater, along its sides not shaped into banquettes, 
 
VICKSBURG, 115 
 
 and fired at an enemy they could not see ; for after the 
 first hour the Rebels ceased to appear on the parapet at 
 all, contenting themselves with the use of the grenades. 
 
 After a while, feathered grenades wxre given to the 
 National troops, and thrown inside the Rebel line with 
 some effect ; but many of these failed to explode, and 
 were hurled back by the Rebels with terrible results. 
 Boxes of field-ammunition were also brought out b}' the 
 enemy, who hghted them with port-fires and threw them 
 by hand into the crater. Nearly every one took efl'ect, 
 killing and wounding sometimes half a dozen men. 
 The crater was called bj- the soldiers the ' ' death-hole " ; 
 but the ground that had been gained was held through 
 all the horrors of the night, and rifle-pits next day were 
 built across the aperture. A covered gallerj' was also at 
 once commenced, from which further mines or counter- 
 mines might lead. 
 
 As it was found impossible to continue the work 
 until the Rebels were driven from the outer face of the 
 opposing parapet, another mine was at once begun. 
 This was sprung on the 1st of ^vily. The result was 
 the destruction of an entire redan, leaving ©nl^^ an im- 
 mense chasm where the Rebel work had stood. The 
 greater portion of the earth was thrown towards the 
 National forces, the line of least resistance being in that 
 direction. The. Rebel interior line, however, was much 
 injured, and many of those manning the works were 
 killed or wounded. But no serious attempt to charge 
 was made, the result of the assaults on the 25th having 
 been so inconsiderable. — Gen. Badeau. 
 
 FROM A REBEL ACCOUNT. 
 
 Among the casualties during the siege were three 
 women and three children, and four men [non-comba- 
 tant] . Among the troops the casualties were greater. 
 Most of these were sick or wounded, and in the hospi- 
 tals. A number were severely injured, and numerous 
 limbs were lost. Some most remarkable and ludicrous 
 escapes were made. 
 
116 STORIES Wold by soldiers. 
 
 I remember that one man had his head blown off 
 while in the act of picking up his child. One man had 
 a shell explode close b}- him, and lift him some distance 
 in the air. Man}^ strange escapes and incidents are 
 spoken of, — so many that they have not been speciall}' 
 noticed. 
 
 One shell fell and exploded between two officers as 
 they were riding together on the street, and lifted both 
 horses and riders into the air without hurting either 
 man or beast. One woman had just risen from her 
 chair when a shell came through the roof, took her seat, 
 and shattered the house without injuring the lady ; and 
 a hundred other similar cases. A little girl, the daugh- 
 ter of Mr. Jones, was sitting at the entrance of a cave, 
 when a PaiTott shell entered the portal and took her 
 head right off. Surely this is terrible warfare which 
 dooms the innocent lambs to inhuman slaughter. 
 
 THE townsmen's PROTECTION. 
 
 The greatest curiosities are the caves hewn into the 
 banks of earth, in which the women and children and 
 non-combatants crept during the heat of the bombard- 
 ment. At night, and sometimes during an entire day, 
 the whole of the people would be confined to these cav- 
 erns. They are constructed about the height of a man 
 and three feet wide, a fork Y shaped into the bank. 
 There are perhaps five hundred of these caves in the 
 city around the works. As many as fifteen have been 
 crowded into one of them. — St. Louis Republican. 
 
 THE MEETING OF GRANT AND PEMBERTON. 
 
 Thousands of soldiers looked upon tlie strange scene. 
 Two men who had been lieutenants in the same regi- 
 ment in Mexico, now met as foes, with all the world 
 
 looking upon them When they had approached 
 
 within a few feet there was a halt and silence. Colonel 
 Montgomery spoke: '"General Grant, General Pem- 
 
VICKSBURG. 117 
 
 berton." Thej- shook hands politeh', but Pemberton 
 was evidently mortified. He said : " I was at Monterey 
 and Buena Vista. We had terms and conditions there." 
 General Grant here took him aside, and the_y sat down 
 on the grass and talked more than an hour. Grant 
 smoked all the time ; Pemberton pla3'ed with the grass 
 and pulled leaves. It was finalh' agreed to parole them, 
 allowing the officers each his horse. This was a politic 
 thing. The dread of going North and fear of harsh 
 treatment had deterred them from capitulating sooner. 
 
 Our men treated the Rebels with kindness, giving 
 them coffee, which some had not tasted for a year. The 
 city is much dilapidated, and man}' houses are injured. 
 The Vicksburg paper of Jul}^ 2d admits the eating of 
 mule meat, and the pilfering of soldiers. 
 
 THE SURRENDER. 
 
 They marched out of their intrenchments by regiments 
 npon the grassy declivity immediately outside their fort ; 
 they stacked their arms, hung their colors upon the 
 centre, laid off their knapsacks, belts, cartridge-boxes, 
 and cap-pouches, and, thus shorn of the accoutrements 
 of the soldier, returned inside their works, and thence 
 down the Jackson road into the city. The men went 
 through the ceremony with that look so touching on a 
 soldier's face ; not a word was spoken ; there was none 
 of that gay badinage we are so much accustomed to 
 hear from the ranks of regiments marching through our 
 streets ; the few words of command necessary were 
 given by their own officers in that low tone of voice we 
 hear used at funerals 
 
 At Forney's head-quarters .... were gathered all the 
 notables of both armies. In a damask armed rocking- 
 chair sat Lieut. -Gen. Pemberton, the most discontented- 
 looking man I ever saw. Presently there appeared in 
 the midst of the throng a man small in stature, heavily 
 set, stoop-shouldered, a broad face, covered with a 
 short, sandy beard, habited in a plain suit of blue flan- 
 
118 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 nel, with the two stars upon his shoulder denoting a 
 Major-General in the United States arm}'. He ap- 
 proached Pemberton and entered into conversation with 
 him ; there was no vacant chair, but neither Pemberton 
 nor an}' of his generals offered him a seat, and thus for 
 five minutes the conqueror stood talking to the van- 
 quished seated, when Grant turned away into the house 
 and left Pemberton to his pride or his grief, — it was 
 hard to tell which. — Oincimiati Commercial. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 A T the moment of General Lee's retreat after 
 •^^^ Antietam, General McClellan was at the very 
 height of a new wave of popularity. But the 
 country which was eager to see Lee's retreat fol- 
 lowed was again disappointed. " Can you tell me 
 why General McClellan does not advance ? " said 
 a distinguished statesman to President Lincoln. 
 " I cannot guess," said the President, " and I do 
 not know." In his own despatches, written long 
 after, the boys found his reasons. He thought his 
 army not at all prepared for a winter campaign. 
 Meanwhile General Burnside liad conducted with 
 spirit a campaign on the coast of North Carolina, 
 and the President was eager to give the army to 
 some one who had the confidence of the nation ; 
 and after McClellan had at last started with the 
 army, Burnside was appointed in his place. 
 
 This time Lee selected the line of the Rappa- 
 hannock for his line of defence, and here the two 
 armies looked at each other across the stream, till 
 Burnside, whose force was superior, boldly crossed, 
 
120 STORIES :/WlD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 on the 10th of December, and began a series of 
 attacks which lasted for three days, but failed. 
 On the 15th, he withdrew all his men. Following 
 the old policy of never retaining unsuccessful 
 generals, the President superseded Burnside' by 
 General Joseph Hooker, an officer so vigorous and 
 spirited that he had the nickname in the army of 
 *' Fighting Joe Hooker." He attempted to dislodge 
 Lee's army by another attack. He crossed the 
 river on the 28tb, and the battle known as the 
 battle of Chancellorsville followed. It was a series 
 of bloody conflicts which lasted three days. In 
 the end the Union army was again withdrawn, after 
 losing twelve thousand in killed and wounded, and 
 five thousand prisoners. The Rebels lost ten 
 thousand in killed and wounded, and three thou- 
 sand prisoners. 
 
 Lee chose this opportunity for another rapid 
 and secret movement upon the Northern States. 
 Hooker's army was discouraged. Lee's, well rein- 
 forced, was in high spirits. Each army had about 
 seventy thousand men. 
 
 Lee's plan was to move swiftly and silently, 
 without Hooker's knowledge, beyond the first 
 range of the Alleghanies to the Shenandoah Valley. 
 He then could march on Philadelphia or Baltimore 
 before Hooker could catch up with him, and could 
 avoid the strong fortifications of Washington, 
 which would delay him too much. He was to live 
 on the country, keeping open his lines of connec- 
 
GETTYSBURG. 121 
 
 tion through the Shenandoah Valley for his am- 
 munition trains only. 
 
 If it had not been for those wretched ammuni- 
 tion trains, how much longer might not the war 
 have been prolonged! But the army's present 
 supply of powder was not large enough for Lee to 
 rely on, and he had to depend on what they sent 
 from Richmond, and little enough — too little in- 
 deed — it proved. 
 
 Well and quietly did Lee move to the Shenan- 
 doah, but not without alarming Hooker. Lee was 
 gone, but where ? North or west it must be, so 
 Hooker broke camp and moved himself westward 
 and northward till the news came of the capture 
 by the Rebels of Winchester on the Shenandoah, 
 and later that the rebel advance was crossing the 
 Potomac. So Hooker crossed the Potomac too, 
 and marched northwest still, to threaten Lee's 
 lines of supply ; for if you step on the tail of an 
 army it will curl round its head to bite you. 
 
 It was in this march that General Hooker had 
 some difference with General Halleck, from Wash- 
 ington, who commanded the armies, about the 
 use of the troops at Harper's Ferry. Hooker asked 
 Halleck for them, Halleck refused him, and Hooker 
 resigned. In his place was appointed General 
 Meade, who was in command of the Fifth Corps, 
 and who had distinguished himself at Fredericks- 
 burg, and under General Meade our soldiers fought 
 the battle of Gettysburg. 
 
122 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 When Lee left tlie Rappahannock he left behind 
 most of his cavalry under General Stuart, a dash- 
 ing officer who had much the same reputation that 
 our General Custer had later. Stuart was to 
 watch the Union army, and when they crossed the 
 Potomac Lee was to be informed. But Stuart, 
 like other cavalry officers, was too fond of dashing 
 excursions, and he reconnoitred to such an extent 
 that when he found the Union army it was be- 
 tween liim and Lee. The Union army crossed the 
 Potomac, and so long was the detour that Stuart 
 had to make, that, when the news arrived, Lee had 
 already felt the pressure on his army's snake-tail, 
 and was turning round to the east to bite his 
 assailant. He had hoped to manoeuvre so that he 
 should be always on the defensive, but — that 
 ammunition ! 
 
 So, on the last day of June, the two armies were 
 blindly approaching each other. Each knew that 
 the other was north of the Potomac, but that was 
 all. Lee was marching eastward toward Gettys- 
 burg, Meade was marching northward tovrard 
 Gettysburg. They did not know it, but it was 
 fated that at Gettysburg they should meet. 
 
 Meade's plan of action was to take up a defen- 
 sive position on Pipe Creek, to the east of Gettys- 
 burg ; he had given his orders for the march of 
 July 2d, and according to his programme his left 
 wing under Reynolds was to occupy Gettysburg. 
 The rest of the army was to the south and east, 
 at different towns in the neighborhood. 
 
GETTYSBURG. 123 
 
 Reynolds led his men to Gett3^sburg on July 1st, 
 and had taken possession when he was informed 
 of the advance of the Rebels from the west. 
 Hastily he deployed such of his men as had come 
 np to meet the enemy, and fought successfully for 
 a short time ; but as the regiments on regiments 
 of Lee's column came up, Reynolds's corps was 
 outnumbered. In the sharp action which took 
 place Reynolds was killed, and his men, under 
 Howard, retreated beyond the town southward to 
 tlie heights of Cemetery Ridge. Here they made 
 a stand, though a large number of them had been 
 surrounded and captured in the streets of the 
 town. 
 
 These heights south of Gettysburg were the 
 Union lines during the battle of the next two 
 days. In shape they are like a fish-hook lying 
 north and south with the point on the eastern side. 
 The straight part is Cemetery Ridge, ending at the 
 south in two hills easily fortified. Here was the 
 left flank of the Union army. The lines extended 
 northward along Cemetery Ridge, and then, as they 
 stretched to the right, they turned to the east and 
 south. On the night of the 1st, Meade brought 
 up the rest of his command, and next morning he 
 drew it up on the crest of this range of hills. 
 
 But a mistake was made in the arrangement. 
 General Sickles, on the left, instead of taking his 
 place on the crest of the hill, drew up his men on 
 a lower range of hills to the front of the real line. 
 
124 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 As he had also to occupy the two hills on the left 
 his line was a V with the vertex turned toward 
 the enemy, and a very thin line of men made the 
 V, for he had none too many to fill the ground 
 allotted him. 
 
 So when Lee made his attack on both flanks on 
 the 2d, Longstreet's men easily drove Sickles back, 
 though reinforced, to the ground he should have 
 taken in the beginning. At the same time the 
 Union right was slight!}^ driven in, and at night 
 the Rebels, having gained ground on both flanks, 
 went to sleep in jubilant expectation. 
 
 The next day, the 3d of July, Lee saw that the 
 flanks had been pushed back as far as was prac- 
 ticable, and he ordered an attack on the centre, — 
 just where the fish-hook begins to bend. Before 
 attacking with infantry he cannonaded the ridge. 
 Our men replied ; and from one o'clock till three 
 two hundred and fifty cannon were doing their 
 worst. Our men, however, were well intrenched, 
 and the enemy's guns did but little harm, though 
 one hundred and twenty rounds were fired on our 
 side, and many more on his. 
 
 At three o'clock his main attack began. Fifteen 
 thousand men were massed against our centre, and 
 marched down from the ridge where they were 
 posted, and up to our lines. It was nearly a mile 
 for them to march under fire of our artillery, and 
 half a mile under our rifles. The fire on our side 
 was too tremendous, — their loss too horrible ; 
 
QETTYSBURG. 125 
 
 no soldiers could bear it. Still their broken col- 
 umns rolled up the incline to our guns, but only 
 to be thrown back. 
 
 It was enough. Lee had not enough ammuni- 
 tion for such another day, and sullenly he retreated 
 back ^ to the Shenandoah Valley whence he had 
 come. 
 
 On the same day Vicksburg fell. It was the 
 turning point of the Rebellion. 
 
 General Lee aferwards said that, after Gettys- 
 burg, he knew that the collapse of the Rebellion 
 was merely a question of time. 
 
 DEATH OF REYNOLDS. 
 
 General Reynolds now rode forward to inspect the 
 field and ascertain the most favorable line for the dis- 
 posal of his troops. One or two members of his staff 
 were with him. The enemy at that instant poured in a 
 cruel musketry fire upon the group of officers ; a bullet 
 struck General Rej-nolds in the neck, wounding him 
 mortally. Crying out, with a voice that thrilled the 
 hearts of his soldiers, " Forward ! for God's sake, for- 
 ward ! " he turned for an instant, beheld the order 
 obej-ed b}^ a line of shouting infantry, and, falhng into 
 the arms of Captain Wilcox, his aid, who rode beside 
 him, his life went out with the words, "Good God, 
 Wilcox, I am killed ! ''—K T. World. 
 
 THE FIRST day's REPULSE. 
 
 Cutler, having the advance, opened the attack ; 
 Meredith was at it a few minutes later. Short, sharp 
 fighting, the enemy handsomely repulsed, three hundred 
 Rebel prisoners taken, General Archer himself reported 
 
126 STORlE^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 at their head, — such was the auspicious opening. No 
 wonder the First determined to hold its ground. 
 
 Yet the}' were ill-prepared for the contest that was 
 coming. Their guns had sounded the tocsin for the 
 Eleventh, but so had they too for Ewell, already 
 marching down from York to rejoin Lee. They were 
 fighting two divisions of A. P. Hill's now, numerically 
 stronger than their dwindled three. Their batteries 
 were not up in sufficient number, — on Meredith's left, 
 a point that especially needed protection, there were 
 none at all. A batter}' with Buford's cavalry stood 
 near. Wadsworth cut red tape, and in an instant 
 ordered it up. The captain, preferring red tape to red 
 fields, refused to obe}'. Wadsworth ordered him under 
 arrest, could find no officer for the batter}', and finally 
 fought it under a sergeant. Sergeant and captain there 
 should henceforth exchange places 
 
 Small resistance is made on our right. The Eleventh 
 does not flee wildly from its old antagonists, as at their 
 last meeting, when Stonewall Jackson scattered them 
 as if they had been pygmies, foolishly venturing into 
 the war of the Titans. It even makes stout .resistance 
 for a little while ; but the advantage of position, as of 
 numbers, is all with the Rebels, and the line is forced to 
 retire. It is done deliberately, and without confusion, 
 till they reach the town. Here the evil genius of the 
 Eleventh falls upon it again. To save the troops from 
 the terrible enfilading fire through the streets the 
 officers wheel them by detachments into cross-streets, 
 and attempt to march thus around one square after 
 another, diagonally, through the town. The Germans 
 are confused by the manosuvre ; perhaps the old panic 
 at the battle-cry of Jackson's flying corps comes over 
 them ; at any rate they break in wild confusion, some 
 pouring through the town a rout, and are with difficulty 
 formed again on the heights to the southward. They 
 lose over one thousand two hundred prisoners in twenty 
 minutes. One of their generals, Schimmelfennig, an 
 old officer in tl^e I^ussian service in the Crimean war, is 
 
GETTYSBURG. 127 
 
 cut off, but he shrewcll}' takes to cover, conceals himself 
 somewhere in the town, and finally escapes. — Cincinnati 
 Gazette. 
 
 AN INCIDENT. 
 
 General Schimmelfennig escaped capture hy resorting 
 to a dodge worth}' of the sharpest Yankee. When he 
 found his retreat cut off, he seized the coat of a private 
 and buttoned it closely over his uniform ; he was 
 knocked down and run over by a gang of Rebels who 
 were after plunder. He then stumbled awa}- into a 
 cellar and lay there concealed and without food for two 
 da3s ; but when he heard the bo^'s placing ' ' Yankee 
 Doodle " in the streets, he thought it safe to come out. 
 He is now in command of his brigade, and read}' for 
 work. — Rebellion Record. 
 
 SKIRMISHING ON THE SECOND DAY. 
 
 All Thursday forenoon there was livelj^ firing between 
 our skirmishers and those of the enem}', but nothing 
 betokening a general engagement. Standing on Cem- 
 etery Hill, which, but for its exposed position, consti- 
 tuted the best point of observation on the field, I could 
 see th^ long line of our skirmishers stretching around 
 centre and left, well advanced, lying flat on the ground 
 in the meadows or corn-fields, and firing at will as they 
 laj^ The little streak of curhng smoke that rose from 
 their guns faded away in a thin vapor, that marked the 
 course of the lines down the left. With a glass the 
 Rebel line could be even more distinctly seen, ever}' man 
 of them with his blanket strapped over his shoulder, — 
 no foolish ' ' stripping for the fight " with these trained 
 soldiers. Occasionally the gray-coated fellows rose 
 from cover, and with a yell rushed on our men, firing 
 as they came. Once or twice in the half-hour that I 
 watched them they did this with such impetuosity as to 
 force our skirmishers back, and call out a shell or two 
 
128 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 from our nearest batteries, — probably the very object 
 their officers had in view. — Cincinnati Gazette. 
 
 About three p. m. I rode out to the extreme left to 
 await the arrival of the Fifth Corps and post it, when 
 I found that Major-General Sickles, commanding the 
 Third Corps, not fully apprehending my instructions in 
 regard to the position to be occupied, had advanced, or 
 rather was in the act of advancing, his corps some half- 
 mile or three quarters of a mile in the front of the 
 line of the Second Corps, on a prolongation of which it 
 was designed his corps should rest. 
 
 Having found Major-General Sickles I was explain- 
 ing to him that he was too far in the advance, and dis- 
 cussing with him the propriet}" of withdrawing, when 
 the enem}^ opened upon him with several batteries in 
 his front and his flank, and immediately brought for- 
 ward columns of infantry' and made a vigorous assault. 
 The Third Corps sustained the shock most heroically-. 
 Troops from the Second Corps were immediately sent 
 by Major-General Hancock to cover the right flank of 
 the Third Corps, and soon after the assault com- 
 menced. 
 
 The Fifth Corps most fortunately' arrived and took a 
 position on the left of the Third, Major-General Sykes 
 commanding, immediately sending a force to occupy 
 " Round Top" ridge, where a most furious contest was 
 maintained, the enem}- making desperate but unsuccess- 
 ful efforts to secure it. Notwithstanding the stubborn 
 resistance of the Third Corps, under Major-General 
 Birney (Major-General Sickles having been wounded 
 earl}' in the action) , superiority in numbers of corps of 
 the enemy enabling" him to outflank its advanced 
 position, General Birney was counselled to fall back 
 and re-form behind the line originally desired to be 
 held. 
 
 In the mean time, perceiving the great exertions of 
 
GETTYSBURG. 129 
 
 the enemy, the Sixth Corps, Major-General Sedgwick, 
 and part of the First Corps, to which I had assigned 
 Major-General Newton, particularly Lockwood's Mar}'- 
 land Brigade, together with detachments from the 
 Second Corps, were all brought up at different periods, 
 and succeeded, together with a gallant resistance of the 
 Fifth Corps, in checking and finall^^ repulsing the 
 assault of the enem}-, who retired in confusion and dis- 
 order about sunset, and ceased any further efforts on 
 our extreme left. — Maj.-Gen. Meade. 
 
 THE SECOND DAY'S REPULSE ON THE LEFT. 
 
 I cannot trace the movements further in detail ; let 
 me give one phase of the fight, fit type of many more. 
 Some Massachusetts batteries, — Captain Bigelow's, 
 Captain Phillips's, — two or three more under Captain 
 McG i^roy of Maine, were planted on the extreme left, f//' 
 advanced now well down to the Emmetsburgh road, 
 with infantry in their front, — the first division, I think, 
 of Sickles's corps. A little after five a fierce Rebel 
 charge drove back the inftintry and menaced the bat- 
 teries. Orders are sent to Bigelow^, on the extreme left, 
 to hold his position at every hazard short of sheer 
 annihilation, till a couple more batteries can be brought 
 to his support. Reserving his fire a little, then with 
 depressed guns opening with double charges of grape 
 and canister, he smites and shatters, but cannot break 
 the advancing line. His grape and canister are ex- 
 hausted, and still closel}', grandly up over their slain 
 on they come. He falls back on spherical case, and 
 pours this in at the shortest range. On, still onward 
 comes the artillery-defying line, and still he holds his 
 position. The}' are w'ithin six paces of the guns, — he 
 fires again. Once more and he blows devoted soldiers 
 from his ver}^ muzzles, and, still mindful of that solemn 
 order, he holds his place. They spring upon his car- 
 riages and shoot down his horses ! And then, his 
 Yankee artillerists still about him," he seizes the guns 
 
 9 
 
130 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 with the hand, and from the ver}' front of that hne drags 
 two of them off. The caissons are further back, — five 
 out of the six are saved. 
 
 That single compan}^ in that half-hour's fight, lost 
 thirty-three of its men, including every sergeant it had. 
 The Captain himself was wounded. Yet it was the 
 first time it was ever under fire ! I give it simply as a 
 type. So they fought along that fiery line ! — Cincinnati 
 Gazette. 
 
 JOHN BURNS. 
 
 On the morning of the first day's fight at Gettysburg, 
 he sent his wife awa3% telling her that he would take 
 care of the house. The firing was near by, over Sem- 
 inary Ridge. Soon a wounded soldier came into the 
 town and stopped at an old house on the opposite cor- 
 ner. Burns saw the poor fellow lay down his musket, 
 and the inspiration to go into the battle seems the first 
 to have seized him. He went over and demanded the 
 gun. 
 
 ' ' AYhat are you going to do with it ? " asked the 
 soldier. 
 
 "I'm going to shoot some of the damned Rebels,'* 
 replied John. 
 
 He is not a swearing man ; and the adjective is to be 
 taken in a sti'icth' literal, not a profane sense. 
 
 Having obtained the gun, he puslied out on the Cham- 
 bersburg Pike, and was soon in the thick of the skirmish. 
 
 "I wore a high-crowned hat and a long-tailed blue, 
 and I was seventy years old," said he. 
 
 The sight of so old a man, in such costume, rushing 
 fearlessly forward to get a shot in the very front of the 
 battle of course attracted attention. He fought with 
 the Seventh Wisconsin Regiment, the colonel of wliich 
 ordered him back and questioned him ; and finally, see- 
 ing the old man's patriotic determination, gave him a 
 good rifle in place of tlie musket he had brought with him. 
 
 " Are you a good shot?" 
 
GETTYSBURG. 131 
 
 " Tolerable good," said John, who is an old fox- 
 hunter. 
 
 " Do 3'ou see that Rebel riding yonder? " 
 
 *'Ido." 
 
 "Canyon fetch him?" 
 
 " I can tr^'." 
 
 The old man took deliberate aim, and fired. He 
 does n't say he killed the liebel, but simply that his shot 
 was cheered b^' the Wisconsin boys, and that afterward 
 the horse the Rebel rode was seen galloping with an 
 empty saddle. " That's all I know about it." 
 
 He fought until our forces wei"e driven back in the 
 afternoon. He had already received two slight wounds, 
 and a third one through the arm, to which he paid little 
 attention. " Onl}' the blood running down my hand 
 bothered me a heap." Then, as he was slowly falhng 
 back with the rest, he received a final shot through the 
 leg. "Down I went, and the whole Rebel army ran 
 over me." Helpless, nearl}' bleeding to death from his 
 wounds, he la}' upon the field all night. 
 
 "About sun-up the next morning I crawled to a 
 neighbor's house, and found it full of wounded Rebels." 
 The neighbor afterwards took him to his own house, 
 which had also been turned into a Rebel hospital. — At- 
 lantic Monthly. 
 
 THE THIRD DAY'S ATTACK. 
 
 Soon from the Cemeter}- Hill (I did not see this, but 
 tell it as actors in it told me) could be seen the forming 
 columns of Hill's corps. Their batteries had already 
 opened in almost a semicircle of fire on that scarred 
 hill-front. Three cross-fires thus came in upon it, and. 
 to-day the tracks of shells ploug.hing the ground in as 
 man}^ directions may be seen everywhere among the 
 graves. Howard never moved his head-quarters an 
 inch. There was his Eleventh Corps, and there he 
 meant to stay, and make them do their duty if he could. 
 Thej' did it well. 
 
132 iSTORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 When the fierce cannonade had, as they supposed, 
 sufficienth' prepared the wa}', do^yn came the Rebel 
 hnes, '' dressed to the right," as if for a parade before 
 some grand master of reviews. To the front they had 
 a Une of skirmishers, double or treble the usual strength, 
 next the line of battle for the charge, next another 
 equally strong in reserve, if the fierce fire they might 
 meet should melt away the first. 
 
 Howard sent orders for his men to Me down, and for 
 a little our batteries ceased firing. The Rebels thought 
 they had silenced us, and charged. They were well up 
 to our front when the whole corps of concealed Ger- 
 mans sprang up and poured out their sheet of flame and 
 smoke, and swiftl}' flying death ; the batteries opened, 
 the soUd lines broke and crisped up into little frag- 
 ments, and were beaten wildh' back. Our men charged, 
 compan}' after company, once at least a whole regiment, 
 threw down down their arms, and rushed over to be 
 taken prisoners and carried out of this fearful fire. 
 
 Simultaneously, similar scenes were enacting along 
 the front of the Second, Third, and Fifth Corps. 
 Everywhere the Rebel attack was beaten back, and the 
 cannonade on both sides continued at its highest pitch. 
 
 When this broke out I had been coming over from 
 the neighborhood of Pleasanton's head-quarters. As- 
 cending the high hill to the rear of Slocum's head-quar- 
 ters, I savf such a sight as few men may ever hope to 
 see twice in a lifetime. Around our centre and left 
 the Rebel line must have been from four to five miles 
 long, and over that whole length there rolled up the 
 smoke from their two hundred and fifty guns. The 
 roar, the bursting bombs, the impression of magnificent 
 power, ""all the glory visible, all the horror of the 
 fearful field concealed," a nation's existence trembling 
 as the clangor of those iron monsters swayed the bal- 
 ance, — it was a sensation for a century ! 
 
 About two the fire slackened a little, then broke out 
 deadher than ever, till, beaten out against our impene- 
 trable sides, it ebbed away, and closed in broken, spas- 
 modic dashes. — Cincinnati Gazette. 
 
GETTYSBURG. 133 
 
 THE THIRD DAY S ATTACK. 
 
 Then there was a hill, and we knew that the Rebel 
 infantry was charging. And splendidly they did this 
 work, the highest and severest test of the stntf soldiers 
 are made of. Hill's division in the line of battle came 
 first on the double-qnick, their muskets at the ''right- 
 shoulder-shift." Longstreet's came as the support, at 
 the usual distance, with war-cries and a savage insolence 
 as yet untutored by defeat. They rushed in perfect 
 order across the open field, up to the very muzzles of 
 the guns, which tore lanes through them as they came. 
 
 But they met men who were their equals in spirit and 
 their superiors in tenacity. There never was better 
 fighting since Thermopylffi than was done yesterday b}' 
 our infantry and artillery. The Rebels were over our de- 
 fences. They had cleared cannoneers and horses from 
 one of the guns, and were whirling it around to use 
 npon us. The bayonet drove them back. But so hard 
 pressed was this brave infantry, that at one time, from 
 the exhaustion of their ammunition, every battery upon 
 the principal crest of attack was silent except Crowen's. 
 
 His services of grape and canister were awful. It 
 enabled our line, outnumbered two to one, first to beat 
 back Longstreet, and then to charge upon him and take 
 a great number of prisoners. Strange sight I So ter- 
 rible was our musketry and artillery fire, that, when 
 Armistead's brigade was checked in its charge and 
 stood reeling, all of its men dropped their muskets and 
 crawled on their hands and knees underneath the 
 stream of shot, till close to our troops, where they 
 made signs of surrendering. Thev passed through our 
 ranks scarcely noticed, and slowly went down the slope 
 to the road in the rear. — A\ Y. Tunes. 
 
 FROM A SOUTHERN POINT OF \T:EW. 
 
 Now the stoiTuing party was moved up. Pickett's 
 division in advance, supported on the right b}' Wilcox's 
 
134 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 brigade and on the left b}' Heth's division, commanded 
 by Pettigrew. The left of Pickett's division occupied 
 the same ground over which Wright had passed the day 
 before. I stood upon an eminence and watched this 
 advance with great interest ; I had seen brave men 
 pass over that fated vallc}' the day before ; I had wit- 
 nessed their death-struggle with the foe on the opjKJsite 
 heights ; I had observed their return with shattered 
 ranks, a bleeding mass, but with unstained banners. 
 Now I saw their vahant comrades prepare for the same 
 bloody trial, and already felt that their efforts would be 
 vain unless their supports should be as true as steel and 
 brave as Uons. Now they move forward, with stead}', 
 measured tread the}- advance upon the foe. Their ban- 
 ners float defiantl}- in the breeze, as onward in beautiful 
 order the}' press across the plain. I have never seen* 
 since the war began (and I have been in all the great 
 fights of this army) troops enter a fight in such splen- 
 did order as d-id this splendid division of Pickett's. 
 Now Pettigrew's command emerges from the woods 
 upon Pickett's left, and sweeps down the slope of the 
 hill to the vallc}^ beneath, and some two or three hun- 
 dred yards in rear of Pickett. I saw b}- the wavering 
 of this line as they entered the conflict that the}- wanted 
 the firmness of nerve and steadiness of tread which so 
 characterized Pickett's men, and I felt that these men 
 would not, could not stand the tremendous ordeal to 
 which they would be soon subjected. These were 
 mostl}' raw troops, which had been recently brought 
 from the South, and who had, perhaps, never been 
 under fire, — who certainly had never been in any ver}'' 
 severe fight, — and I trembled for their conduct. Just 
 as Pickett was getting well under the enemy's fire, our 
 batteries ceased firing. This was a fearful moment for 
 Pickett and his brave command. Wh}- do not our guns 
 re-open their fire ? is the inquir}- that rises upon every 
 lip. Still our batteries are silent as death ! But on 
 press Pickett's brave Virginians ; and now the enemy 
 open upon them, from more than fifty guns, a terrible 
 
GETTYSBURG. 135 
 
 fire of grape, shell, and canister. On, on the^^ move, in 
 unbroken line, delivering a deadly fire as the}' advance. 
 Now they have reached the Emmetsburgh road, and 
 here they meet a severe fire from the heavy masses of 
 the enemy's infantr}', posted behind the stone fence, 
 while their artillery', now free from the anno3'ance of 
 our artillery, turn their whole fire upon this devoted 
 band. Still they remain firm. Now again they ad- 
 vance ; they storm the stone fence ; the Yankees fl}'. 
 The enemy's batteries are, one by one, silenced in quick 
 succession as Pickett's men deliver their fire at the gun- 
 ners and drive them from their pieces. I see Kemper 
 and Armistead plant their banner in the enem3''s works. 
 I hear their glad shout of victory ! 
 
 Let us look after Pettigrew's division. Where are 
 the}^ now? While the victorious shout of the gallant 
 Virginians is still ringing in my ears, I turn m}^ eyes to 
 the left, and there, all over the plain, in utmost con- 
 fusion, is scattered this strong division. Their line is 
 broken ; the}' are fij'ing, apparentl}' panic-stricken, to 
 the rear. The gallant Pettigrew is wounded ; but he 
 still retains command, and is vainly striving to rally his 
 men. Still the moving mass rush pell-mell to the rear, 
 and Pickett is left alone to contend with the hordes of 
 the enem}^ now. pouring in upon him on every side. 
 Garnett falls, killed by a minie ball, and Kemper, the 
 brave and chivalrous, reels under a mortal wound, and 
 is taken to the rear. Now the eneni}' move around 
 strong flanking bodies of infantr}', and are rapidly gain- 
 ing Pickett's rear. The order is given to fall back, and 
 our men commence the movement, doggedly contending 
 for ever}' inch of ground. The enemy press heavily 
 our retreating line, and many noble spirits who had 
 passed safely through the fiery ordeal of the advance 
 and charge now fall on the right and on the left. 
 Armistead is w^ounded, and left in the enemy's hands. 
 At this critical moment the shattered remnant of 
 Wright's Georgia brigade is moved forward to cover 
 their retreat, and the fight closes here. Our loss in this 
 
136 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 charge was very severe, and the Yankee prisoners taken 
 acknowledge that theirs was immense. — Richmond En- 
 quirer. 
 
 A EEBEL CHARGE. 
 
 Reaching my post I looked up the line and there 
 stood the brave Stuart, calmly waiting for the troops 
 to get in position. "Fix bayonets ! " was the command, 
 quietly given, and the last act in this bloody drama was 
 about to be enacted. It was a dreadful moment. But 
 one brief second of life yet left ! The sword of the 
 general is raised on high ! " Forward, double-quick ! " 
 rings out in clarion tones, and the race to meet death 
 began. The fated brigade emerged from the woods 
 into the open plain, and here, O God ! what a fire 
 greeted us, and the death-shriek rends the air on every 
 side ! But on the gallant survivors pressed, closing up 
 the dreadful gaps as fast as they were made. At this 
 moment I felt a violent shock, and found myself instantly 
 stretched upon the ground. I had experienced the 
 feeling before, and knew what it meant, but to save me 
 I could not tell where I was struck. In the excitement 
 I felt not the pain, and, resting upon my elbow, anxiously 
 watched that struggling column. Column, did I say? 
 A column no longer, but the torn and scattered frag- 
 ments of one. But flesh and blood could not live in 
 such a fire ; and a handful of survivors of what had 
 been a little more than twelve hours before the pride 
 and boast of the army sought to reach the cover of the 
 woods. — Maj. Golasboroufjk, 1st Md. G. S. A. 
 
 THE THICK OF THE FIGHT. 
 
 Men fired in each other's faces not five feet apart. 
 There were bayonet-thrusts, cuttings with sabres, 
 pistol-shots, cool, deliberate movements on the part of 
 some, — hot, passionate, despairing efforts with others, 
 — hand-to-hand contests. There was recklessness of 
 
GETTYSBURG. 137 
 
 life, tenacit}^ of purpose, oaths, curses, yells, hurrahs, 
 shoutings, — men went down, some on their faces, some 
 leaping into the air with exclamations wrung from their 
 hearts. There were ghastly heaps of dead where the 
 cannon tore open the ranks. — C. G. Coffin. 
 
 ADVANCE OF THE COLORS. 
 
 When the fight was most terrific, Colonel Hall, com- 
 manding the brigade, quietly ordered the color-bearer 
 of the Fifteenth Massachusetts to advance upon the 
 enemy alone. It was like an electric impulse. It 
 thrilled the entire line. Men forgot that they were on 
 the defensive ; and, without an order from a command- 
 ing officer, the line, as if bent on one common purpose, 
 surged ahead. Thousands of bayonets flashed in the 
 setting sun. Then came a wild hurrah, and the mass 
 of Rebels melted away over the plain. — G. G. Goffin. 
 
 Custer's cavalry charge. 
 
 To repel their advance I ordered the Fifth Cavalry 
 to a more advanced position, with instructions to main- 
 tain their ground at all hazards. Colonel Alger, com- 
 manding the Fifth, assisted by Majors Trowbridge and 
 Ferry of the same regiment, made such admirable dis- 
 position of their men behind fences and other defences, 
 as enabled them to successfully repel the repeated 
 advance of a greatly superior force. I attributed their 
 success in a great measure to the fact that this regiment 
 is armed with the Spencer repeating rifle, which, in the 
 hands of brave, determined men, like those composing 
 the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, is, in my estimation, the 
 most effective fire-arm that our cavalry can adopt. 
 Colonel Alger held his ground until his men had ex- 
 hausted their ammunition, when he was compelled to 
 fall back on the main body. The beginning of this 
 movement was the signal for the enemy to charge, 
 which they did, with two regiments, mounted and dis- 
 
138 
 
 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 mounted. I at once ordered the Seventh Michigan 
 Cavalry, Colonel Mann, to charge the advancing column 
 of the enemy. The ground over which we had to pass 
 was ver}- unCavorable for the manoeuvring of cavalry, 
 but despite all obstacles this regiment advanced boldly 
 to the assault, which was executed in splendid style, 
 the enemy being driven from field to field until our 
 advance reached a high and unbroken fence, behind 
 which the enem^' were strongly posted. Nothing 
 daunted. Colonel Mann, followed by the main body of 
 his regiment, bravel}' rode up to the fence and dis- 
 charged their revolvers in the very face of the foe. No 
 troops could have maintained this position ; the Seventh 
 was, therefore, compelled to retire, followed by twice 
 the number of the enem}'. By this time Colonel Alger 
 of the Fifth Michigan Cavahy had succeeded in mount- 
 ing a considerable portion of his regiment, and gallantly 
 advanced to the assistance of the Seventh, whose fur- 
 ther pursuit by the enem}' he checked. At the same 
 time an entire brigade of the enemy's cavalry, consist- 
 ing of four regiments, appeared just over the crest in 
 our front. The}^ were formed in column of regiments. 
 To meet this overwhelming force I had but one avail- 
 able regiment, the First Michigan Cavalry and the fire 
 of Battery M, Second Regular Artillery. I at once 
 ordered the First to charge, but learned at the same 
 moment that similar orders had been given b}' Brigadier- 
 General Gregg. As before stated, the First was formed 
 in column of battalions. Upon receiving the orders to 
 charge. Colonel Town, placing himself at the head of 
 his command, ordered the "trot" and sabres to be 
 drawn. In this manner this gallant body of men ad- 
 vanced to the attack of a force outnumbering them five 
 to one. In addition to this numerical superiority the 
 enemy had the advantage of position, and were exultant 
 over the repulse of the Seventh Michigan Cavalry. All 
 these facts considered would seem to render success on 
 the part of the First impossible. Not so, however. 
 Arriving within a few yards of the enemy's column, the 
 
GETTYSBURG. 139 
 
 charge was ordered, and, with a 3'ell that spread terror 
 before them, the First Michigan CaA^alr}', led by Colonel 
 Town, rode upon the front rank of the eneni}', sabring 
 all who came within reach. For a moment, but onl}' a 
 moment, that long heav}' column stood its ground, then, 
 unable to withstand the impetuosity of our attack, it 
 gave way into a disorderly rout, leaving vast numbers 
 of their dead and wounded in our possession, while the 
 First, being masters of the field, had the proud satisfac- 
 tion of seeing the much vaunted "Chivalry" led by 
 their favorite commander, seek safety in headlong flight. 
 I cannot find language to express ni}' high appreciation 
 of the gallantry and daring displayed by the oflficers 
 and men of the First Michigan Cavalry. They ad- 
 vanced to the charge of a vasth^ superior force with as 
 much order and precision as if going upon parade ; and 
 I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more 
 brilliant or successful charge of cavalry than the one 
 just recounted. — Maj.-Gen. Custer. 
 
 THE REPULSE. 
 
 As soon as the bullets began to whistle, a general 
 said to the orderly who carried the color of his brigade, 
 which he supposed would attract notice and draw the 
 fire of the enemy upon him, "Take awa}^ that flag, go 
 to the rear with that flag ! " and the person who obeyed 
 this direction remarked in stating it, " Faith, an' I was 
 as willin' to run with it to the rear as he was to have 
 me." .... 
 
 At sunset, at a critical time, in obedience to a 
 universal cry among the soldiers, " Charge on them ! " 
 " Take our old ground !" the fragments of the brigade, 
 with the colors of five regiments unfurled within the 
 distance of one hundred feet, in the absence of its gen- 
 eral, and against the orders of General Humphreys, the 
 division commander, who vainly shouted, " Halt ! halt ! 
 stop those men ! " pursued the enemj' half a mile, cap- 
 tured several prisoners, retook cannon that had been 
 
140 STORIES Wold by soldiers. 
 
 left upon the field, and assisted to achieve a conchisive 
 success 
 
 The Rebels told me that their generals and officers 
 said that there was nothing in their front except a force 
 of militia which would run awa}' at the first voile}' ; but 
 this falsehood was detected as soon as the fighting com- 
 menced. The}' deceived others, who implored the Na- 
 tional troops not to kill them. I observed one wounded 
 3-outh, about sixteen 3'ears of age, who was crying, and 
 stated as the cause of his grief that "General Lee 
 always put the Fifth Florida in the front !".... 
 
 One of the statf arrived and stated that a brigadier- 
 general had decided to establish a new line of battle 
 about a mile in the rear, but was unable to find his 
 regiments, and delivered an order for the ranks to 
 return at once to that point. The men were ver}' indig- 
 nant, because the}- wished to enjoy that rest which is so 
 precious to ever}' soldier, — a sleep upon the field which 
 they had won by their bravery ; and an officer said, 
 "Tell the general that if he will come to the front he 
 will find his commands with their colors, and, if he was 
 
 not such a d d coward, he would be here with 
 
 them." .... 
 
 The Rebels were dispirited by the repulses upon the 
 2d and 3d ; called the plain a ' ' slaugliter-pen " ; de- 
 clared that further fighting was useless ; and some, 
 who considered Jackson their "very heart of hope," 
 mournf nil}' said, " We have not got Stonewall with us 
 now." They related the following incident regarding 
 Amistead, who commanded a brigade, and was killed 
 in the unsuccessful charge. He skulked behind the 
 trunk of a poplar-tree, in one of the battles before 
 Richmond ; and, as the}' advanced upon the open plain, 
 several men who disliked him shouted, " There are no 
 poplar-trees to get behind now " ; and he replied to 
 their taunts by saying, " Before this charge is ended, 
 you will wish that there were some poplar- trees here." — 
 Capt. Blake, llth Mass. 
 
GETTYSBURG, Ul 
 
 GENERAL LEE AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 He was engaged in rallying and encouraging the 
 broken troops, and was riding about, a little in front of 
 the wood, quite alone, — the whole of his staff being 
 engaged in a similar manner, further to the rear. His 
 face, which is alwa3's placid and cheerful, did not show 
 signs of the slightest disappointment, care, or anno}^- 
 ance ; and he was addressing to every soldier he met 
 a few words of encouragement, such as, " All this will 
 come right in the end ; we '11 talk it over afterwards ; 
 but, in the mean time, all good men must rall3^ We 
 want all good and true men just now," &c. He spoke 
 to all the wounded that passed him, and the slightly 
 wounded he exhorted to bind up their hurts and take 
 up a musket in this emergenc}'. Very few failed to 
 answer his appeal, and I saw many badly wounded men 
 take off their hats and cheer him. 
 
 I saw General Willcox (an officer who wears a short 
 round ja,cket and a battered straw hat) come up to him, 
 and explain, almost crying, the state of his brigade. 
 General Lee immediately shook hands with him, and 
 said, cheerfully, " Never mind. General, all this has 
 been my fault,, — it is /that have lost this fight, and you 
 must help me out of it in the best wa}^ you can." 
 
 In this manner I saw General Lee encourage and re- 
 animate his somewhat dispirited troops, and magnani- 
 mously take upon his own shoulders the whole weight 
 of the repulse. — An English Officer. 
 
 WORK OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION. 
 
 " Have you friends in the arm}', madam? " a Rebel 
 soldier, 13'ing on the floor of the car, said to me as I 
 
 gave him some milk. " Yes, m^^ brother is on 's 
 
 staff." "I thought so, ma'am. You can always tell; 
 when people are good to soldiers, the^^ are sure to have 
 friends in the army." " We are Rebels, you know, 
 
142 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 ma'am," another said; " do you treat Rebels so?'* 
 It was strange to see the good brotherly feeling come 
 over the soldiers, our own and the Rebels, when^ side 
 b}' side, they lay in our tents, " Hallo, bo3's ! this is 
 the pleasantest way to meet, isn't it? We are better 
 friends when we are as close as this, than a little far- 
 ther off." And then they would go over the battles 
 together: " we were here," and " you were there," in 
 
 the frieiidliest wa}' 
 
 Few good things can be said of the Gett3'sburg farm- 
 ers, and I onl}' use Scripture language in calling them 
 ''evil beasts." One of this kind came creeping into our 
 camp three weeks after the battle. He lived five miles 
 onl}' from the town, and had " never seen a Rebel." 
 He heard we had some of them, and came down to see 
 them. " Bo^'S, here's a man who never saw a Rebel 
 in his life., and wants to look at you"; and then he 
 stood with his mouth wide open, and there they lay in 
 rows, laughing at him, stupid old Dutchman. '* And 
 
 why have n't you seen a Rebel? " Mrs. said ; "why 
 
 did n't you take your gun and help to drive them out of 
 your town ? " — ''A feller might 'er got hit ! " — which 
 reply was quite too much for the Rebels ; they roared 
 with laughter at him, up and down the tents. — lUiss 
 Woolsey, 
 
 GENERAL MEADE'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 
 
 Major-General Re3'nolds immediately' moved around 
 the town of Gettysburg, and advanced on the Cash- 
 town road, and without a moment's hesitation deployed 
 his advance division and attacked the eneni}', at the 
 same time sending orders for the Eleventh Corps 
 (General Howard) to advance as promptly as possible. 
 Soon after making his dispositions for the attack, Major- 
 General Reynolds fell mortall}' wounded, the command 
 of the First Corps devolving on Major-General Double- 
 day, and the command of the field on Major-General 
 Howard, who arrived about this time (11.30 a.m.), 
 
GETTYSBURG. 143 
 
 with the Eleventh Corps, then commanded by Major- 
 General Schurz. Major-General Howard pushed for- 
 ward two divisions of the Eleventh Corps to support 
 the First Corps, now warmly engaged with the enemy 
 on the ridge to the north of the town, and posted his 
 Third Division, with three batteries of artillery, on Cem- 
 etery Ridge, on the south side of the town. Up to this 
 time the battle had been with the forces of the enemy 
 debouching from the mountains on the Cashtown Road, 
 known to be Hill's corps. In the early part of the 
 action, success was on our side, — Wadsworth's division 
 of the First Corps having driven the enem}^ back some 
 distance, and capturing numerous prisoners, among 
 them. General Archer, of the Confederate army. 
 
 The arrival of reinforcements to the enem}^ on the 
 Cashtown Road, and the junction with Ewell's corps, 
 coming on the York and Harrisburg roads, which 
 occurred between one and two o'clock p. m., enabled 
 the enemy to bring vastly superior forces against both 
 the First and Eleventh Corps, outflanking our line of 
 battle and pressing it so severel}' that, at about four 
 p. M., Major-General Howard deemed it prudent to 
 withdraw these two corps to Cemeter}' Ridge, on the 
 south side of the town, which operation was successfully 
 accomplished, — not, however, without considera])le loss 
 in prisoners, arising from the confusion incident to 
 portions of both corps passing through the town, and 
 the men getting confused in the streets. 
 
 About the time of the withdrawal, Major-General 
 Hancock arrived, whom I had despatched to represent 
 me on the field on hearing of the death of General Re}'- 
 nolds. In conjunction with Major-General Howard, 
 General Hancock proceeded to post troops on Cemetery 
 Ridge, and to repel an attack that the enemy made on 
 our right flank. This attack was not, however, ver}' 
 vigorous. The enemy, seeing the strength of the posi- 
 tion occupied, seemed to be satisfied with the success 
 he had accomplished, desisting from any further attack 
 this da}-. 
 
144 STOniE^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 About seven p. m., Major-Generals Slocum and Sic- 
 kles, with the Twelfth Corps and part of the Third, 
 reached the ground and took post on the right and left 
 of the troops previously' posted. 
 
 Being satisfied, from reports received from the field, 
 that it was the intention of the enemj' to support, with 
 his whole arm}', the attack alreadj- made, and reports 
 from Major-Generals Hancock and Howard on the 
 character of the position being favorable, I determined 
 to give battle at this point, and earh* in the evening of 
 the 1st, issued orders to all corps to concentrate at 
 Gett3'sburg, directing all trains to be sent to the rear 
 at Westminster. 
 
 At eleven p. m. of the 1st, I broke up m}^ head-quar- 
 ters, which, till then, had been at Tane3town, and 
 proceeded to the field, arriving there at one a. m. of 
 the 2d. So soon as it was, hght I proceeded to in- 
 spect the position occupied, and to make arrangements 
 for posting several corps as the}' should reach the 
 ground. By seven a. m. the Second and Fifth Corps, 
 with the rest of the Third, had reached the ground, and 
 were posted as follows. The Eleventh Corps retained 
 its position on the cemetery side, just opposite to the 
 town. The First Corps was posted on the right of the 
 Eleventh, on an elevated knoll, connecting with a ridge 
 extending to the south and east, on which the Second 
 Corps was placed. The right of the Twelfth Corps 
 rested on a small stream at a point where it crossed the 
 Baltimore Pike, and which formed on the right fiank of 
 the Twelfth something of an obstacle. Cemetery Ridge 
 extended in a westerly and southerly direction, gradu- 
 all}' diminishing in elevation till it came to a very prom- 
 inent ridge, called Round Top, running east and west. 
 The Second and Third Corps were directed to occupy 
 the continuation of Cemetery Ridge, on the left of the 
 Eleventh Corps. The Fifth Corps, pending the arrival 
 of the Sixth, was held in reserve. While these disposi- 
 tions were being made, the enemy was massing his 
 troops on the exterior ridge, distant from the Une 
 occupied by us from a mile to a mile and a half. 
 
GETTYSBURG. 145 
 
 At two p. M. the Sixth Corps arrived, after a march 
 of thirty-two miles, accomplished from nine a. m. the day 
 previous. On its arrival being reported, I immediately 
 directed the Fifth Corps to move over to our extreme 
 left, and the Sixth to occupy its place as a reserve for 
 the right 
 
 Another assault was, however, made, about eight 
 p. M., on the Eleventh Corps, from the left of J;hetown, 
 which was repulsed with the assistance of the troops 
 from the Second and First Corps. During the heav3^ 
 assault upon our extreme left, portions of the Twelfth 
 Corps were sent as reinforcements. During their ab- 
 sence, the line on the extreme right was held by a very 
 much reduced force. This was taken advantage of by 
 the enemy, who, during the absence of Geary's division 
 of the Twelfth Corps, advanced and occupied part of 
 the line. On the morning of the 3d, General Gear}', 
 having returned during the night, was attacked at early 
 dawn by the enem^^, but succeeded in driving him 
 back, and occupying his former position. A spirited 
 contest was maintained all the morning along this 
 part of the line. General Gear}-, reinforced by Whea- 
 ton's brigade. Sixth Corps, maintained his position, 
 inflicting very severe losses on the enem}-. With 
 this exception, the quiet of the lines remained un- 
 disturbed till one p. M. on the 3d, when the enemy 
 opened from over one hundred and twenty-five guns, 
 plaj'ing upon our centre and left. This cannonade 
 continued for over two hours, when, our guns failing 
 to make any reply, the enemy ceased firing, and soon 
 his masses of infantry became visible, forming for 
 an assault on our left and left centre. The assault 
 was made with gi'eat firmness, being directed prin- 
 cipall}- against the point occupied by the Second Corps, 
 and was repelled with equal firmness by the troops of 
 that corps, supported by Doubleday's division and 
 Stannard's brigade of the First Corps. 
 
 During the assault, both Major-General Hancock, 
 commanding the left centre, and Brigadier-General 
 10 
 
146 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Gibbon, commanding the Second Corps, were severely 
 wonnded. 
 
 This terminated the battle, the enemy retiring to 
 his lines leaving the field strewed with his dead and 
 wounded, and numbers of prisoners fell into our hands. 
 
 The result of the campaign may be briefly stated in 
 the defeat of the eneni}' at Gettysburg, his compulsory 
 evacuation of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and his 
 withdrawal from the upper valley of the Shenandoah ; 
 and in the capture of three guns, forty-one standards, 
 and 13,621 prisoners. 24,978 small arms were col- 
 lected on the battle-field. Our own losses were very 
 severe, amounting, as will be seen b^' the accompan}'- 
 ing return, to 2,834 killed, 13,709 wounded, and 6,643 
 missing, — in all, 23,186. 
 
 GENERAL LEE's OFFICIAL EEPORT. 
 
 The preparations for attack were not completed until 
 the afternoon of the 2d. 
 
 The enem}' held a high and commanding ridge, along 
 which he had massed a large amount of artillery. 
 General Ewell occupied the left of our line. General 
 Hill the centre, and General Longstreet the right. In 
 front of General Longstreet the eneni}' held a position', 
 from which, if he could be driven, it was thought that 
 our army could be used to advantage in assailing the 
 more elevated ground beyond, and thus enable us to 
 reach the crest of the ridge. That officer was directed 
 to endeavor to carry this position, while General Ewell 
 attacked directl}- the high ground on the enemy's right, 
 which had already been partially fortified. General 
 Hill was instructed to threaten the centre of the Fed- 
 eral line, in order to prevent reinforcements being sent 
 to either wing, and to avail himself of any opportu- 
 uit}' that might present itself to attack. 
 
 After a severe struggle, Longstreet succeeded in get- 
 ting possession of and holding the desired ground. 
 Ewell also carried some of the strong positions which 
 
GETTYSBURG. 147 
 
 he assailed, and the result was such as to lead to the 
 belief that he would ultimate!}' be able to dislodge the 
 enem}'. The battle ceased at dark. 
 
 These partial successes determined me to continue 
 the assault next da}'. Pickett, with three of his bri- 
 gades, joined Longstreet the following morning, and 
 our batteries were moved forward to the position gained 
 by him the day before. 
 
 The general plan of attack was unchanged, exce[)t 
 that one division and two brigades of Hill's corps were 
 ordered to support Longstreet. 
 
 The enemy, in the mean time, had strengthened his 
 line with earth-works. The morning was occupied in 
 necessary preparations, and the battle recommenced 
 in the afternoon of the 3d, and raged with great 
 violence until sunset. Our troops succeeded in en- 
 tering the advanced works of the enemy, and getting 
 possession of some of his batteries ; but our artillery 
 having nearly expended its ammunition, the attacking 
 columns became exposed to the heavy fire of the nu- 
 merous batteries near the summit of the ridge, and, 
 after a most determined and gallant struggle, were 
 compelled to relinquish their advantage, and fall back 
 to their original position, with severe loss. 
 
 The conduct of the troops was all that I could desire 
 or expect, and they deserved success so far as it can be 
 deserved by heroic valor and fortitude. More may 
 liave been required of them than they were able to per- 
 form, but my admiration of their noble qualities, and 
 confidence in their ability to cope successfully wdth the 
 enemy, has suffered no abatement from the issue of this 
 protracted and sanguinary conflict. 
 
 Owing to the strength of the enemy's position and the 
 reduction of our ammunition, a renewal of the engage- 
 ment could not be hazarded, and the difficulty of pro- 
 curing supplies rendered it impossible to continue longer 
 where we were. Such of the wounded as were in con- 
 dition to be removed, and part of the arms collected on 
 the field, were ordered to WiUiamsport. The army re- 
 
148 STORIES Wold by soldiers. 
 
 mained at Gettysburg during the 4th, and at night be- 
 gan to retire b}' the road to Fairfield, carrying with it 
 about four thousand prisoners. Nearl}' two thousand 
 had previously been paroled, but the enemy's numer- 
 ous wounded, that had fallen into our hands after the 
 first and second day's engagements, were left behind. 
 
 Little progress was made that night, owing to a 
 severe storm, which greatly embarrassed our move- 
 ments. The rear of the column did not leave its posi- 
 tion near Gettysburg until after daylight on the 5th. 
 
 The march was continued during that da}' without 
 interruption by the enem}', except an unimportant 
 demonstration upon our rear in the afternoon, when 
 near Fairfield, which was easily checked. Part of our 
 train moved by the road through Fairfield, and the rest 
 b}' the w^ay of Cashtown, guarded by General Imboden. 
 In passing through the mountains, in advance of the 
 column, the great length of the trains exposed them to 
 attack by the enemy's cavahy, which captured a num- 
 ber of wagons and ambulances ; but the}' succeeded in 
 reaching Williamsport without serious loss. 
 
 They were attacked at that place on the Gth by the 
 enemy's cavalry, which was gallantly repulsed by Gen- 
 eral Imboden. The attacking force was subsequently 
 encountered and driven off by General Stuart, and pur- 
 sued for several miles in the direction of Boonesboro. 
 The army, after an arduous march, rendered more diffi- 
 cult by the rains, reached Ilagerstown on the afternoon 
 of the Gth and morning of the 7th of July. 
 
 The Potomac was found to be so much swollen by 
 the rains that had fallen almost incessantly since our 
 entrance into Maryland as to be unfordable. Our com- 
 munications with the south side were thus interrupted, 
 and it w'as difficult to procure either ammunition or 
 subsistence, the latter difficulty being enhanced by the 
 high waters impeding the working of neighboring mills. 
 The trains with the wounded and prisoners were com- 
 pelled to await at Wilhamsport the subsiding of the 
 river and the construction of boats, as the pontoon 
 
GETTYSBURG. 149 
 
 bridge left at Falling Waters had been partially de- 
 stro3'ed. The eneni}^ had not 3^et made his appearance ; 
 but as he was in condition to obtain large reinforce- 
 ments, and our situation, for the reasons above men- 
 tioned, was becoming dail}' more embarrassing, it was 
 deemed ad\dsable to recross the river. Part of the pon- 
 toon bridge was recovered, and new boats built, so 
 that b}^ the 13th a good bridge was thrown over the 
 river at Falling Waters. 
 
 The enemy in force reached our front on the 12th. 
 A position had been previously selected to cover the 
 Potomac from Williamsport to Falling Waters, and an 
 attack was awaited during that and the succeeding day. 
 This did not take place, though the two armies were in 
 close proximity, the enemy being occupied in fortifying 
 his own lines. Our preparations being completed, and 
 the river, though still deep, being pronounced fordable, 
 the arm}' commenced to withdraw to the south side on 
 the night of the 13th. 
 
 Ewell's corps forded the river at Winiamsport,',those 
 of Longstreet and Hill crossed upon the bridge. Owing 
 to the condition of the roads the troops did not reach 
 the bridge until after daylight of the 14th, and the 
 crossing was not completed till one p. m., when the. 
 bridge was removed. The enemy offered no serious 
 interruption, and the movement was attended with no 
 loss of material except a few disabled wagons and two 
 pieces of artillery, wiiich the horses were unable to 
 move through the deep mud. Before fresh horses 
 could be sent back, for them, the rear of the column had 
 passed. % 
 
 During the slow and tedious march to the bridge, in 
 the midst of a violent storm of rain, some of the men 
 lay down by the way to rest. Officers sent back for 
 them'failed to find many in the obscurity of the night, 
 and these, with some stragglers, fell into the hands of 
 the enemy. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 /CHATTANOOGA, in Eastern Tennessee, was 
 ^^ another of the points which were ver}^ im- 
 portant to each party in the war. It is the centre 
 of a great system of railroads, which unite the 
 Eastern and Western regions of the South. The 
 armies in Virginia and the East received by these 
 roads their supplies of grain and beef from Ala- 
 bama, Florida, and Georgia. The inhabitants of 
 the neighborhood were loyal to the Union ; and on 
 this account alone the National government would 
 have been glad to take and hold Chattanooga, for 
 their encouragement. After the fall of Vicksburg, 
 Chattanooga was the most important point except- 
 ing Richmond for the National army to seize. 
 
 General Rosecrans took possession of it accord- 
 ingly, on the 9th of September, 1863, having out- 
 generalled the Southern General Bragg, who was 
 intrusted with holding it. But Bragg had no in- 
 tention of leaving his enemy in possession, and, 
 having been largely reinforced, on the 19th of 
 September he attacked the widely extended army 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 151 
 
 of Rosecrans, " demolished his right wing," and 
 pierced his centre. But the persistenc}' of General 
 Thomas — who always distinguished himself by 
 holding on — foiled Bragg in his principal object, 
 and, though Rosecrans lost sixteen thousand men 
 and thirty-six cannon in this battle, which is 
 known as the battle of Chickamauga, Chattanooga 
 was, for the moment, saved. Still, with his army 
 so terribly reduced, Rosecrans could do little more 
 than hold it. General Bragg considered its reduc- 
 tion a mere question of time.^ He held all the 
 high land on the south side of the city, and as 
 the Tennessee River, not easily passed, shut it in 
 on the north and west, the National army was 
 virtually besieged in the city. The supply trains 
 from Bridgeport, twenty-five miles distant by road, 
 could not cross the mountains after the fall rains 
 set in ; and- General Rosecrans was obliged to put 
 his whole command on half-rations. Under these 
 circumstances General Rosecrans was removed, 
 and General Grant appointed in his place ; and, to 
 relieve Chattanooga, as soon as he could gather 
 strength sufficient, he fought the battle known as 
 " the battle of Chattanooga." 
 
 Of this battle General Badeau says : " It was the 
 grandest one fought west of the Alleghanies. It 
 covered an extent of thirteen miles, and Grant 
 had over sixty thousand men engaged At 
 
 1 General Bragg says in an official report : " We held him at 
 our mercy, and his destruction was only a question of time." 
 
152 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Vicksburg it had been the strategy, at Sliiloh 
 the hard fighting, but at Chattanooga it was the 
 manoeuvring in the presence of the enemy that 
 brought about the result ; aided, of course, in the 
 highest possible degree, by the gallantry of the 
 soldiers, without which the greatest of generals is 
 in fact unarmed. Few battles have ever been 
 won so strictly according to the plan laid down ; 
 certainly no battle, during the war of the Rebel- 
 lion, was carried out so completely according to 
 the programme. Grant's instructions in advance 
 would almost serve as a history of the contest. 
 Changes were indeed made in the orders ; but 
 before the battle began, the original plan was 
 resumed." 
 
 That plan was simple, and any boy who will fix 
 this in his mind, or set it down on an imaginary 
 map, on a bit of paper, will understand well enough 
 the more important places alluded to in the narra- 
 tives of details which follow. Remember that 
 Lookout Mountain is a high mountain which com- 
 mands the view of the whole scene. The fighting 
 at Missionary Ridge was thirteen miles northeast 
 of Lookout Mountain. Missionary Ridge runs 
 south from where it touches the Tennessee, and 
 along its summit ran, for six miles, the Rebel in- 
 trenchments, shutting in Chattanooga from the 
 east ; then they turned westward and ran for four 
 miles across the valley of Chattanooga Creek, to 
 Lookout Mountain, which was held by a strong 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 153 
 
 force to secure his left flank. Bragg had just 
 weakened himself by sending Longstreet on an 
 expedition into Eastern Tennessee with fifteen 
 thousand men, so that his effective force was only 
 forty-five thousand, scattered along his ten miles 
 of intrenchments. 
 
 Grant had thirty thousand men under Thomas 
 in Chattanooga, Hooker with ten thousand west of 
 Lookout Mountain on the south side of the Ten- 
 nessee, and Sherman on the north side, behind the 
 hills, with twenty thousand. 
 
 This is his plan in his own words : " The general 
 plan is for Sherman .... to effect a crossing of 
 the Tennessee River, just below the mouth of the 
 Chickamauga ; his crossing to be protected by ar- 
 tillery from the heights on the north bank of the 
 river, and to secure the heights from the north- 
 ern extremity to about the railroad tunnel, before 
 the enemy can concentrate against him. You " 
 
 (Thomas) " will co-operate with Sherman 
 
 Further movements will then depend on those of 
 the enemy." 
 
 But on the 23d of November it seemed as if the 
 knot was to be cut in an entirely different way. 
 A Rebel soldier, who had seen the departure from 
 the Rebel camp of a corps sent to reinforce Long- 
 street, deserted, and brought the news into the 
 Union camp that Bragg was evacuating his posi- 
 tion. Grant, unwilling to allow Bragg to make an 
 orderly retreat, and anxious to learn the truth, 
 
154 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 ordered an advance to feel the Rebels' centre, al- 
 though Sherman had not yet reached his position 
 behind Chattanooga. Sherman had been for more 
 than a month marching up from Vicksburg. 
 
 Accordingly at noon of the 23d two corps of 
 Thomas's command formed in line of battle and 
 advanced quickly on the Rebel line. The enemy 
 were taken entirely by surprise, and driven a mile 
 and a half to their second line of defences. Thomas 
 immediately strengthened his position by earth- 
 works, and on the morning of the 24th he had 
 several guns in position on his new line. Here he 
 waited all the next day. 
 
 While he was fortifying himself, Sherman was 
 floating down pontoons from a creek above, and 
 building a bridge across the Tennessee north of the 
 enemy's position. The next morning, under cover 
 of the mist, he began ferrying his troops across, 
 and continued his work on the bridge, so that at 
 one of the 24th all his men were on the south side 
 of the river, and their line of communication secure. 
 As soon as his last men were across, he advanced 
 toward the south till he came to tlie main line of 
 the enemy, who offered vigorous resistance. Sher- 
 man's immediate object was to get possession of the 
 railroad from Chattanooga east, but the enemy Avere 
 strongly fortified and kept him back till night. 
 
 Hooker on the west also made an attack on the 
 24th, and in the afternoon fought his " Battle among 
 the Clouds." He had to build a bridge over the 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 155 
 
 Lookout Creek before advancing, but, once across, 
 lie drove the enemy from their superior position, 
 and at four had gained a point which commanded 
 the enemy's works ; for two hours he had been 
 fighting in a cloud-mist, only more darkened by 
 the smoke of the battle. 
 
 In the night the enemy retreated from Lookout 
 Mountain across the Chattanooga Creek, burning 
 the bridges as they went. At the same time they 
 evacuated some of the ground they had held so 
 well in front of Sherman, and retreated to still 
 stronger defences. 
 
 Next morning, the morning of the 25th, Sherman 
 advanced over the ground given by the Rebels and 
 attacked them again and again. So hard lie struck 
 that Bragg had again and again to reinforce his 
 men in this position, which they must keep. Di- 
 vision after division was sent to the right, and the 
 centre and left weakened by so much. 
 
 At last the time had come, and Grant gave the 
 word to Thomas in the centre. His army, the army 
 which had been defeated at Chickamauga, sprang 
 forward on the double-quick. Every man knew 
 that here was the moment to avenge that defeat. 
 The defence of the Rebels was nothing to them, 
 the Rebels were less ; on they went, with cheers 
 and shouts, over line after line of breastworks, over 
 line after line of soldiers, till the last pits on the 
 top of the ridge" were gained, the enemy's centre 
 was crushed, the battle was won. 
 
156 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Thomas turned some of his men to the left, to 
 rout the Rebels still holding out against Sherman ; 
 with others he pursued the retreat — the flight — 
 of the enem^^ 
 
 " For Chickamauga," said Uncle Fritz, *' we can- 
 not do much Avith the reports of our side : it is sad 
 work. But you will find a book the Rebel govern- 
 ment published with all their reports of that battle ; 
 perhaps you can pick out something interesting out 
 of that." 
 
 So Horace, who knew enough not to expect pictu- 
 resqueness from the report of any one higher than 
 a brigadier, picked out these three bits. 
 
 A EEBEL BRIGADE. 
 
 The attack was soon made by the whole line. It 
 was stubbornly resisted from a very strong position just 
 behind the crest of the hill. A portion of two of my 
 regiments gained the crest of the hill and planted colors 
 there, but the position was a hot one, and some break- 
 ing to the rear on the left caused the whole to give way 
 for a time. The troops were rallied on the slope of the 
 hill, lines reformed, and all in readiness to resume the 
 attack, when the eneni}^ advanced his line immediately 
 in ni}^ front, down the hill, with some imi)etuosity. The 
 line was instanth' ordered forward to meet this charge, 
 and the command quickl}' responded to. The enemy 
 was met by a volley and a charge which did much exe- 
 cution, his line broken, and his troops fled in some con- 
 fusion ; but as there was no corresponding forward 
 movement by the brigades on m}' right and left, and as 
 the hill near the crest was very difficult to ascend, he 
 had time either to re-form or to bring up a second line 
 
CHICK AM AUG A AND CHATTANOOGA. 157 
 
 before we reached the top of the hill, and another re- 
 pulse was the consequence. Troops never rallied more 
 prompt!}', nor with less confusion or clamor. — Brig.- 
 Gen. Patton Anderson., G. S. A. 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL DESHLER, C. S. A. 
 
 About twelve o'clock our suppl}' of ammunition 
 began to give out, and I sent a courier to Brigadier- 
 General Deshler to inform him of the fact, and to ask 
 where we could get more. A few minutes after, I saw 
 him coming towards m}^ right, some forty paces from 
 me, when he was struck by a shell in the chest and his 
 
 heart literall}- torn from his bosom Refusing to 
 
 permit a staff-officer to endanger his life in going to ex- 
 amine the cartridge-boxes to see what amount of ammu- 
 nition his men had, he cheerfullj' started himself to brave 
 the tempest of death that raged on the crest of the hill. 
 He had gone but a little way when he fell, — fell as he 
 would wish to fall. . . . — Col. R. Q. 3Iills, commanding 
 Brigade C. S. A. 
 
 A BRAVE REBEL. 
 
 Private McCann was under my own qjq. He stood 
 upright, cheerful and self-possessed in the ver}^ hail of 
 deadly missiles, and cheered up his comrades around 
 him. After he had expended all his ammunition, he 
 gathered up the cartridge-boxes of the dead and wound- 
 ed, and distributed them to his comrades. He bore 
 himself like a hero through the entire contest, and lell 
 mortall}' wounded by the last volley's of the eneni}'. I 
 promised him during the engagement that I would men- 
 tion his good conduct, and, as he was borne d^ing from 
 the field, he turned his boyish face upon me, and, with 
 a light and pleasant smile, reminded me of my prom- 
 ise. — Col. R. Q. Mills y commanding Brigade C. S. A. 
 
l^ 
 
 158 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 But for Chattanooga they had only too much. 
 Uncle Fritz only let them read half of what they 
 wanted to, and it is to be hoped they halved their 
 book-marks wisely. Florence confesses that she 
 only left out the shorter extracts. 
 
 Sherman's advance to Chattanooga. 
 
 Another bridge was in course of construction at Chat- 
 tanooga, under the immediate direction of Quarter- 
 master-General Meigs, but at the time all the wagons, 
 etc. had to be ferried across b}^ a flying bridge. Men 
 were bus}' and hard at work everywhere inside our 
 lines, and boats for another pontoon bridge were being 
 rapidl}' constructed under Brigadier-General W. F. 
 Smith, familiarly known as " Baldy Smith," and this 
 bridge was destined to be used b}' my troops, at a point 
 of the river about four miles above Chattanooga, just 
 below the mouth of the Chickamaiiga River. General 
 Grant explained to me that he had reconnoitred the 
 Rebel line from Lookout Mountain up to Chickamauga, 
 and he believed that the northern portion of Missionar}' 
 Ridge was not fortified at all ; and he wanted me, as 
 soon as my troops got up, to lay the new pontoon bridge 
 b}' night, cross over, and attack Bragg's right flank on 
 that part of the ridge abutting on Chickamauga Creek, 
 near the tunnel ; and he proposed that we should go at 
 once to look a't the ground. In company with Generals 
 Thomas, W. F. Smith, Brannan, and others, we crossed 
 by the flying bridge, rode back of the hills some four 
 miles, left our horses, and got on a hill overlooking the 
 whole gi'ound about the mouth of the Chickamauga 
 River, and across to the Missionary Hills near the tun- 
 nel. Smith and I crept down behind a fringe of trees 
 that lined the river-bank, to the very point selected for 
 the new bridge, where we sat for some time, seeing the 
 Rebel pickets on the opposite bank, and almost hearing 
 their words. 
 
CmCKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 159 
 
 Having seen enough we returned to Chattanooga ; 
 and in order to hurrj- up my command, on which so 
 much depended, I started back to Ivelle3''s in hopes to 
 catch the steamboat that same evening ; but on my 
 arrival the boat had gone. I appUed to the command- 
 ing officer, got a rough boat, manned by four soldiers, 
 and started down the river by night. I occasionall}' 
 took a turn at the oars to relieve some tired man, and 
 about midnight we reached Shell Mound, where General 
 Whittaker, of Kentucky, furnished us a new and good 
 crew, with which we reached Bridgeport b}^ daylight. 
 I started Swing's division in advance, \vith orders to 
 turn aside towards Trenton, to make the enemy believe 
 we were going to turn Bragg' s left b}' pretty much the 
 same road Rosecrans had followed ; but with the other 
 three divisions I followed the main road, via the Big 
 Trestle at Whitesides, and reached General Hooker's 
 head-quarters, just above Wauhatchee, on the 20th ; my 
 troops strung all the way back to Bridgeport. It was 
 on this occasion that the Fifteenth Corps gained its 
 peculiar badge ; as the men were trudging along the 
 deeply-cut, muddy road, of a cold, drizzly da3% one of 
 our Western soldiers left his ranks and joined a party 
 of the Twelfth Corps at their camp-fire. They got into 
 conversation, the Twelfth Corps men asking what 
 troops we were, etc., etc. In turn, our fellow (who 
 had never seen a corps-badge, and noticed that every- 
 thing was marked with a star) asked if they were all 
 brigadier-generals. Of course the}^ were not, but the 
 star was their corps-badge, and every wagon, tent, hat, 
 etc. had its star. Then the Twelfth Corps men in- 
 quired what corps he belonged to, and he answered, 
 "The Fifteenth Corps." "What is your badge?" 
 " Why," said he, (and he was an Irishman,) suiting the 
 action to the word, " forty rounds in the cartridge-box, 
 and twenty in the pocket ! " At that time Blair com- 
 manded the corps ; but Logan succeeded soon after, and, 
 hearing the story, adopted the cartridge-box and forty 
 rounds as the corps-badge. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
160 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 THE FIRST ATTACK. 
 
 At a given signal, Granger moved forward into the 
 plain, in front and on the right of Fort Wood. The fog 
 that had lain in the valley all day lifted, and the rays of 
 the sun glanced back from twent}^ thousand bayonets. 
 The superb pageant went on, under the eyes of curious 
 crowds on Missionary Ridge ; but the troops moved with 
 such precision, that the eneni}" mistook their evolutions 
 for a parade. The Rebel pickets leaned on their mus- 
 kets, and quietl}^ watched the advance of Thomas's 
 battalions. This unmeant deception was heightened by 
 the troops remaining nearly half an hour in position, 
 and in full view of the Rebel army, before they received 
 the final order to advance. At last, a dozen shots of 
 the National skirmishers scattered the Rebel pickets, 
 who fled in haste through a strip of timber, lying be- 
 tween the open ground and some secondary eminences, 
 on which the first line of rebel rifle-pits was built. 
 Wood followed rapidly, directly towards the front, driv- 
 ing not only the Rebel pickets, but their reserves. A 
 heavy fire of musketry was poured upon the advancing 
 troops as they entered the strip of woods ; but they fell 
 rapidly upon the grand guards stationed on the first line 
 of Bragg's rifle-pit, captured about two hundred men, 
 and secured themselves in their new positions, before 
 the enemy had sufficiently recovered from his surprise 
 to attempt to send reinforcements from his main camp 
 on the ridge. Sheridan now moved up rapidly on 
 Wood's right, and in fifteen minutes the Rebels had 
 abandoned their whole advanced line. Nothing re- 
 mained to them west of the ridge but the rifle-pit at its 
 foot. — Brig.- Gen. Badeau. 
 
 LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Simultaneously with these operations the troops on 
 the mountain rushed on in their advance, the right pass- 
 ing directly under the muzzles of the enemy's guns on 
 
CmCKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 161 
 
 the summit, climbing over ledges and bowlders, np hill 
 and down, furiously driving the enemy from his camp and 
 from position after position. This lasted until twelve 
 o'clock, when Geary's advance heroicallj' rounded the 
 peak of the mountain. Not knowing to what extent 
 the enemy might be reinforced, and fearing, from the 
 rough character of the field of operations, that our lines 
 might be disordered, directions had been given for the 
 troops to halt on reaching this high ground ; but, fired 
 by success, with a flying panic-stricken force before 
 them, they pressed impetuously forward. Cobham's 
 brigade, occupying the high ground on the right, be- 
 tween the enemy's main line of defence on the plateau 
 and the palisades, incessantly plied them with fire from 
 above and behind, while Freeland's brigade was vigor- 
 ously roiling them up on the flank, both being closely 
 supported by the brigades of Whitaker and Creighton. 
 Our success was uninterrupted and irresistible. Before 
 losing the advantages the ground presented us, (the 
 enemj^ had been reinforced meantime,) after having 
 secured the prisoners, two of Osterhaus's regiments had 
 been sent forward on the Chattanooga road, and the 
 balance of his and Cruft's divisions had joined Geary. 
 All the Rebel eflbrts to resist us only resulted in ren- 
 dering our success more thorough. After two or three 
 short but sharp conflicts the plateau was cleared. The 
 eneni}^, with his reinforcements, driven from the walls 
 and pits, around Craven's house, (the last point at 
 which he could make a stand in force,) all broken and 
 destroyed, were hurled in great numbers over the rocks 
 and precipices into the valley. 
 
 It was now near two o'clock, and our operations were 
 arrested by the darkness. The clouds, which had hovered 
 over and enveloped the summit of the mountain during 
 the morning, and to some extent favored our move- 
 ments, gradually settled into the valley and completely 
 veiled it from our view. . Indeed, from the moment we 
 rounded the peak of the mountain, it was only from the 
 roar of battle, and the occasional glimpse oui* comrades 
 
 11 
 
162 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 in the valle}' could catch of our hues and standards, 
 that they knew of the strife in its progress ; and when, 
 from these evidences, our true condition was revealed to 
 them, their painful anxiety yielded to transports of 
 joy. — Maj.- Gen. Hooker. 
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE LEFT. 
 
 General Jefferson C. Davis's division was ready to 
 take the bridge, and I ordered the columns to form in 
 order to carry Missionar}^ Hills. The movement had 
 been carefully explained to all division commanders, 
 and at one p. m. we marched from the river in three 
 columns in echelon ; the left, General Morgan L. 
 Smith, the column of direction, following substantially 
 Chickamauga Creek ; the centre, General John E. 
 Smith, in column, doubled on the centre, at one bri- 
 gade interval to the right and rear, prepared to deploy 
 to the right, on the supposition that we would meet an 
 enemy in that direction. Each head of column was 
 covered b}^ a good line of skirmishers, with supports. 
 A light drizzling rain prevailed, and the clouds hung 
 low, cloaking our movements from the enemy's tower 
 of observation on Lookout Mountain.^ We soon gained 
 the foot-hills ; our skirmishers crept up the face of the 
 hills, followed by their supports ; at half past three p. m. 
 we had gained, with no loss, the desired point. A bri- 
 gade of each division was pushed rapidl}' to the top of 
 the hill, and the enemy for the first time seemed to 
 realize the movement, but too late, for we were in pos- 
 session. He opened with artiller}^, but General Ewing 
 soon got some of Captain Richardson's guns up that 
 steep hill, and gave back artillery, and the enemy's 
 light skirmishers made one or two ineffectual dashes at 
 General Lightburn, who had swept round and got a 
 farther hill, which was the real continuation of the 
 
 ^ Indeed, the enemy were engaged nearer home on Lookout 
 Mountain, as the reader has seen. — Horace. 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 163 
 
 ridge. From studying all the maps, I had inferred 
 that Missionary Ridge was a continuous hill ; but we 
 found ourselves on two high points, with a deep de- 
 pression between us and the one immediately over the 
 tunnel, which was my chief objective point. The 
 ground we had gained, however, was so important, 
 that I could leave nothing to ch^ince, and ordered it to 
 be fortified during the night. One brigade of each 
 division was left on the hill, one of General Morgan L. 
 Smith's closed the gap to Chickamauga Creek, two of 
 General John E. Smith's were drawn back to the base 
 in reserve, and General Ewing's right was extended 
 down into the plain, thus crossing the ridge in a gen- 
 eral line, facing southeast. 
 
 The enemy felt our left flank about four p. m., and a 
 pretty smart engagement with artillery and muskets 
 ensued, when he drew off; but it cost us dear, for 
 General Giles A. Smith was severely wounded, and 
 had to go to the rear ; and the command of the brigade 
 devolved on Colonel Tupper (One hundred and six- 
 teenth Illinois), who managed it with skill during the 
 rest of the operations. At the moment of my crossing 
 the bridge. General Howard appeared, having come 
 with three regiments from Chattanooga, along the east 
 bank of the Tennessee, connecting my new position with 
 that of the main arm}' in Chattanooga. He left the three 
 regiments attached temporarily' to General Ewing's right, 
 and returned to his own corps at Chattanooga. As night 
 closed in, I ordered General Jefferson C. Davis to keep 
 one of his brigades at the bridge, one close up to ray 
 position, and one intermediate. Thus we passed the 
 night, heavy details being kept busy at work on the 
 iutrenchments on the hill 
 
 The sun had hardly risen before General Corse had 
 completed his preparations, and his bugle sounded the 
 "Forward!" The Fortieth Illinois, supported by the 
 Forty-sixth Ohio, on our right centre, with the Thir- 
 tieth Ohio (Colonel Jones), moved down the face of 
 our hill, and up that held hy the enemy. The line ad- 
 
164 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Tanced to within about twenty 3'arrls of the intrenched 
 position, where General Corse found a secondary crest, 
 which he gained and held. To this point he called his 
 reserves, and asked for reinforcements, which were 
 sent ; but the space was narrow, and it w\as not well 
 to crowd the men, as the enemy's artillery and mus- 
 ketry fire swept the approach to his position, giving 
 him great advantage. As soon as General Corse had 
 made his preparations, he assaulted, and a close, severe 
 contest ensued, which lasted more than an hour, gain- 
 ing and losing ground, but never the position first 
 obtained, from which the enemy in vain attempted to 
 drive him. General Morgan L. Smith kept gaining 
 ground on the left spurs of Missionary Ridge, and 
 Colonel Loomis got abreast of the tunnel and railroad 
 embankment on his side, drawing the enemy's fire, 
 and to that extent relieving the assaulting party on 
 the hill crest. Captain Callender had four of his guns 
 on General Ewing s hill, and Captain Woods his Napo- 
 leon battery on General Lightburn's ; also, two guns of 
 Dillon's batteiy were with Colonel Alexander's brigade. 
 All directed their fire as carefully as possible, to clear 
 the hill to our front, without endangering our own men. 
 The fight raged furiously about ten a. m., when Gen- 
 eral Corse received a severe wound, was brought off 
 the field, and the command of the brigade and of the 
 assault of that key-point devolved on that fine young 
 gallant officer, Colonel Walcutt, of the Forty-Sixth 
 Ohio, who fulfilled his part manfull}^ He continued 
 the contest, pressing forward at all points. Colonel 
 Loomis had made good progress to the right, and about 
 two p. M. General John E. Smith, judging the battle 
 to be most severe on the hill, and being required to 
 support General Ewing, ordered up Colonel Raum's 
 and General Mathias's brigades across the field to the 
 summit that was being fought for. Thej^ moved up 
 under ja heavy fire of cannon and musketry, and joined 
 Colonel Walcutt ; but the crest was so narrow that 
 they necessarily^ occupied the west face of the hill. 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 165 
 
 The enemy, at the time, being massed in great strength 
 in the tunnel-gorge, moyerl a large force under cover 
 of the ground and the thick bushes, and suddenl}' ap- 
 peared on the right rear of this command. The sud- 
 denness of the attack disconcerted the men, exposed as 
 they were in the open field ; they fell back in some dis- 
 order to the lower edge of the field, and re-formed. 
 These two brigades were in the nature of supports, and 
 did not constitute a part of the real attack. The move- 
 ment, seen from Chattanooga (five miles off) with spy- 
 glasses, gave rise to the report, which even General 
 Meigs has repeated, that we were repulsed on the left. 
 It was not so. The real attacking columns of General 
 Corse, Colonel Loomis, and General Smith were not 
 repulsed. The}' engaged in a close struggle all day, 
 persistently, stubbornlj^, and well. When the two 
 reserve brigades of General John E. Smith fell back as 
 described, the enem}^ made a show of pursuit, but were 
 in their turn caught in flank by the well-directed fire of 
 our brigade on the wooded crest, and hastily sought 
 cover behind the hill. 
 
 Thus matters stood about three p. m. The day was 
 bright and clear, and the amphitheatre of Chattanooga 
 lay in beauty at our feet. I had watched for the attack 
 of General Thomas " early in the day.'''' 
 
 Column after column of the enemy was streaming 
 toward me ; gun after gun poured its concentric shot on 
 us, from every hill and open that gave a view of an}^ 
 l^art of the ground held b}' us. An occasional shot 
 from Fort Wood and Orchard Knoll, and some musketry 
 fire and artillery over about Lookout Mountain, was all I 
 could detect on our side ; but about three p. m. I noticed 
 the white line of musketry fire in front of Orchard Knoll 
 extending farther and farther right and left and on. 
 We could only hear a faint echo of sound, but enough 
 was seen to satisfy me that General Thomas was at last 
 moving on the centre. I knew that our attack had 
 drawn vast masses of the enemy to our flank, and felt 
 sure of the result. Some guns which had been firing 
 
166 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 on us all day were silent, or were turned in a different 
 direction. 
 
 The advancing line of musketry fire from Orchard 
 Knoll disappeared to us behind a spur of the hill, and 
 could no longer be seen ; and it was not until night 
 closed in that I knew that the troops in Chattanooga 
 had swept across Missionary Ridge and broken the 
 enemy's centre. Of course, the victory- was won and 
 pursuit was the next step. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 THE STORMING OF THE RIDGE. 
 
 Twenty minutes to four, and from a battery at which 
 the gunners have been waiting with ill-concealed impa- 
 tience, the signal-guns agreed upon are fired, — a regu- 
 lar salute, — one — two — three — four — five — six ! 
 
 Number six has hardl}' sounded his brazen note, be- 
 fore the inert mass is instinct with life. The skirmish- 
 ers of Wood and Sheridan are awa}-, followed by the 
 fiery lines. All the forts and batteries bellow their 
 
 harsh thunder over the heads of our men They 
 
 charge the rifle-pits at the foot of the ridge 
 
 The}' have no orders to go farther than the foot of the 
 ridge, but when the^^ see the enemy swarming like bees 
 out of the rifle-pits, and flying before them, the}' do not 
 stop for orders. They halt but a moment to re-form, 
 and then, in spite of a terrible storm of soughing shot, 
 screaming shell, pattering canister, and whizzing bul- 
 lets, they dash forward to storm the height. An aid- 
 de-camp follows them, crj'ing out, " Take the ridge, if 
 you can " ; but it was an order to sanction what they 
 were already doing. ^ 
 
 1 " I asked General Slieridan how he accounted for the ease 
 with which tlie first line of rifle-pits was carried. He said that he 
 happened to be in advance of his own line as it charged, and, 
 looking back, was impressed with the terrible sight presented by 
 the mass of approaching bayonets. The men were on a run and 
 the line had become almost a crowd, and the Rebels appeared 
 unable to resist the effect upon their imagination or their nerves 
 of this waving, glittering mass of steel. 
 
CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 167 
 
 The lines ascend the hill in man}^ wedge-forms,^ the 
 advancing colors in the forward angle of each. The 
 artillery, from our positions, fires furiously over the 
 heads of our men. A gun from Orchard Knoll, sighted 
 hy General Granger in person, explodes a Rebel caisson 
 on the ridge. The enemy, in surprise and confusion, 
 fire too high, and do less damage to our men than 
 might have been expected. 
 
 It is now evident to the excited beholders that the 
 color-bearers are running a race. The men partake of 
 the enthusiasm, until all are at a white heat. Each 
 regiment strains forward to place its colors first upon 
 the rebel battlements. Let all win ! . . . . 
 
 Just as the sun is sinking in the west, the great sea 
 of Union soldiers bursts upon the Rebel ridge, and the 
 day is ours. To the searcher among militar}^ pictu- 
 resques, there is no more splendid scene than this in any 
 war ; — the wild mountain scenerj^ ; the crests gilded by 
 the slanting light ; the ravines and valleys in shadow ; 
 the thunder of battle, the shouts of victory, and the 
 great sun, seeming to pause for a moment to take in 
 the stor}' which he was to tell as he journeyed to the 
 Western lands, and which the whole world was to learn 
 and never forget. — Col. Coppee. 
 
 " When they had got a third of the way up, an aid of Granger's 
 ordered one of Sheridan's brigades down the hill, in conformity 
 with the original plan ; but Sheridan soon came up, and saw that 
 the flags were advancing steadily, and that two of his brigades 
 were still mounting the hill. He at once ordered back the troops 
 which had begun to descend. ' When I saw those flags going 
 up,' he said, ' I knew we should carry the ridge, and I took the 
 responsibility.' " — Brig.- Gen. Coppee. 
 
 ^ Compare this with the account of the battle of Preston Pans 
 in Waverley : " Both lines were now moving forward, the first 
 prepared for instant combat. The clans of which it was com- 
 posed formed each a sort of separate phalanx, narrow in front, 
 and in depth ten, twelve, or fifteen files, according to the strength 
 of the following. The best-armed and best-born, for the words 
 were synonymous, were placed in front of each of these irregular 
 subdivisions. The others in the rear shouldered forward the 
 front, and by their pressure added both physical impulse and 
 additional ardor and confidence to those who were first to encoun- 
 ter the danger." — Florence. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GRANT'S ADVANCE ON RICHMOND. — THE WIL- 
 DERNESS. — SHERIDAN'S RIDE. 
 
 "XT 7ITH the spring of 186J: there came the feel- 
 ^ ' ing through the whole country that the end 
 must come now. I cannot say what this feeling was 
 at the South. But I know that General Lee said, 
 that after Gettysburg the fall of the Confederacy 
 was only a matter of time. At the North there was 
 a determination to put the matter through, and that 
 thoroughly. Abraham Lincoln, the President, had 
 full confidence in General Grant. This confidence 
 was shared by Stanton, his Secretary of War, and 
 Halleck, who had great power at Washington, as 
 director of the army at that centre, either to make 
 or ruin generals, as he liked them or disliked them. 
 With the accord of everybody who had to be con- 
 sulted, Mr. Washburne of Illinois, the same who 
 afterwards distinguished himself in France, intro- 
 duced a bill in Congress reviving the office of 
 Lieutenant-General. This office had existed only 
 twice in the history of the country. It was cre- 
 ated for Washington in 1798, a little before he 
 died, that he might take the oversight of the 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 169 
 
 impending war with France and Spain. As a post 
 of honor, it had been revived for General Scott 
 in his last days. It was now revived for a third 
 time, both for honor and for efficiency, that the 
 whole gripe of affairs might be in one hand, and 
 that, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, one will 
 might direct all the effort to crush the enemy. 
 
 Napoleon the Great once said that there was 
 only one thing worse than a bad general, and that 
 this was " two good generals." 
 
 You see the value and the humor of the state- 
 ment. But it was not known, or it was not acted 
 upon, at the beginning of this war. There was a 
 " Department of the Potomac," and a " Depart- 
 ment of the Shenandoah," and a " Department of 
 West Virginia," and a ^'Department of the Ohio," 
 and a "Department of the MississijDpi," each with 
 a general almost independent, and so on without 
 end. Of course, as one says after all this was 
 over, there was endless misunderstanding ; and 
 even where the mutual understanding was cordial, 
 there was no end of lost time and opportunity, 
 because in war two heads are worse than one. 
 
 All this was to be ended now. The moment 
 the new law passed General Grant was appointed 
 Lieutenant-General. He was the one man of 
 importance who had not been consulted regarding 
 the matter. 
 
 In one of his vivid conversational epigrams at 
 this time, General Butler described the campaign 
 
170 STORIES IKlD by SOLDIERS. 
 
 before the army thus : " We go at the heart now. 
 If you cut out a man's heart, his fingers and toes 
 do not live long." It had early been General 
 Grant's policy to seek the armies of the enemy 
 and beat them. In such a war he considered the 
 capture of one city or another as of less impor- 
 tance than the end of war itself by the breaking 
 up of an organized army. 
 
 The country received the news of his appoint- 
 ment with enthusiasm. Every one felt that the 
 end had now come. 
 
 His own narrative of the year which followed is 
 one of the best pieces of history which has been 
 written in the last fifty years, and stands a better 
 chance of being read in America in the year 2500 
 than any other bit of the history of our time. He 
 became Lieutenant-General on the 2d of March, 
 1864. General Lee in person surrendered to him 
 at Appomattox on the 9th of April, 1865. The year 
 between divides itself into the campaign of the 
 Wilderness, so called ; the siege of Richmond and 
 Petersburg; and the pursuit of the broken arm}^ 
 Of the Wilderness campaign General Grant's own 
 story is short and clear. 
 
 By " the Wilderness" is meant a region, mostly 
 of forest, extending through Northeastern Vir- 
 ginia, from the Pamunky River to the Rappahan- 
 nock. It was perhaps never before the fortune of 
 the capital of a nation to be defended from in- 
 vaders by the forests which careless agriculture, 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 171 
 
 penury, and laziness had permitted to grow np 
 within a hundred miles of the seat of government. 
 But the blight of slavery was ruining Virginia first 
 of all. Such is the divine law of compensation. 
 The lands which had been corn-lands and tobacco- 
 lands were now covered by the forest growth, and 
 you have no epigram which better describes the 
 Southern "Confederacy" than this fact of history, 
 which tells you that its metropolis was guarded by 
 a "Wilderness." 
 
 GENERAL GRANT's NARRATIVE. — THE BEGINNING. 
 
 The movement of the army of the Potomac com- 
 menced earl}^ on the morning of the 4th of Ma}', 1864, 
 under the immediate direction and orders of Major- 
 General Meade, pursuant to instructions. Before 
 night the whole army was across the Rapidan, (the 
 Fifth and Sixth Corps crossing at Germania Ford, and 
 the Second in advance,) with the greater part of its 
 trains, numbering about four thousand wagons, meet- 
 ing with but slight opposition. The average distance 
 travelled by the troops that day was about twelve 
 miles. This I regarded as a great success, and it re- 
 moved from m}' mind the most serious apprehensions I 
 had entertained, that of crossing the river in the face of 
 an active, large, well-appointed and ably-commanded 
 arm}', and how so large a train was to be carried 
 through a hostile country and protected. Early on the 
 5th, the advance corps (the Fifth, Major-Gen. G. K. 
 Warren commanding) met and engaged the enemy 
 outside his intrenchments near Mine Run. The battle 
 raged furiously all da}', the whole army being brought 
 into the fight as fast as the corps could be got upon the 
 field, which, considering the density of the forest and 
 narrowness of the roads, was done with commendable 
 promptness. 
 
172 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 General Buriiside, with the Ninth Corps, was, at the 
 time the Army of the Potomac moved, left with the 
 bulk of his corps at the crossing of the Rap[)ahannock 
 lliver and Alexandria Raih'oad, holding the road back 
 to Bull Run, with instructions not to move until he 
 received notice that a crossing of the Rapidaii was 
 secured, but to move promptly as soon as such notice 
 was received. This crossing he was apprised of on the 
 afternoon of the 4th. By six o'clock of the morning 
 of the 6th he was leading his corps into action near the 
 Wilderness Tavern, some of his troops having marched 
 a distance of over thirty miles, crossing both the Rap- 
 pahannock and Rapidan Rivers. Considering that a 
 large proportion, probably two thirds, of his command 
 "was composed of new troops, unaccustomed to marches 
 and carrying the accoutrements of a soldier, this was a 
 remarkable march. 
 
 THE SECOND AND THIRD DAYS. 
 
 The battle of the Wilderness was renewed b}' us at 
 five o'clock on the morning of the 6th, and continued 
 with unabated fury until darkness set in, each army 
 holding substantially the same position that they had 
 on the evening of the 5th. After dark the enemy made 
 a feeble attempt to turn our right flank, capturing 
 several hundred prisoners and creating considerable 
 confusion. But the promptness of General Sedgwick, 
 who was personally present and commanded that part 
 of our line, soon re-formed it and restored order. On 
 the morning of the 7th, reconnoissances showed that 
 the eneni}' had fallen behind his intrenched lines, with 
 pickets to the front, covering a part of the battle-lield. 
 From this it was evident to my mind that the two days' 
 fighting had satisfied him of his inabilitv to further 
 maintain the contest in the open field, notwithstanding 
 his advantage of position, and that he would await an 
 attack behind his works. I therefore determined to 
 push on and put my whole force between him and Rich- 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 173 
 
 mond ; and orders were at once issued for a movement 
 
 hy Ills right flank. 
 
 THE MARCH AFTERWARD. 
 
 On the night of the 7th, the march was commenced 
 toward Spotts3'lvania Court- House, the Fifth Corps 
 moving on the most direct road. But the enemy 
 having become apprised of our movement, and having 
 the shorter line, was enabled to reach there first. 
 On the 8th, General Warren met a force of the enemy 
 which had been sent out to oppose and delay his 
 advance, to gain time to fortify the line taken up at 
 Spottsylvania. This force was steadilj' driven back on 
 the main force, within the recently constructed works, 
 after considerable fighting, resulting in severe loss to 
 both sides. On the morning of the 9th, General Sheri- 
 dan started on a raid against the enemy's lines of com- 
 munication with Richmond. The 9th, 10th, and lltU 
 were spent in manoeuvring and fighting without decisive 
 re.sults. Among the killed on the 9th was that able 
 and distinguished soldier, Major-Gen. John Sedgwick, 
 commanding the Sixth Army Corps. Major-Gen. H. 
 G. Wright succeeded him in command. Earl}^ on the 
 morning of the 12th, a general attack was made on 
 the enemj^ in position. The Second Corps, Major-Gen- 
 eral Hancock commanding, carried a salient of his line, 
 capturing most of Johnston's division of Ewell's corps 
 and twenty pieces of artiller}^ But the resistance was 
 so obstinate that the advantage gained did not prove 
 decisive. The 13th, 14th, loth, 16th, 17th, and 18th 
 were consumed in manoeuvring and awaiting the arrival 
 of reinforcements from Washington. Deeming it im- 
 practicable to make any further attack upon the enem\^ 
 at Spottsylvania Court-House, orders were issued on 
 the 18th with a view to a movement to the North Anna, 
 to commence at twelve o'clock on the night of the 19th. 
 Late in the afternoon of the 19th, Ewell's corps came 
 out of its works on our extreme right flank ; but the 
 
174 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 attack was promptl}- repulsed, with lieavy loss. This 
 delayed the movement to the North Anna until the 
 night of the 21st, when it was commenced. But the 
 enemy, again having tlie shorter line, and being in pos- 
 session of the main roads, was enabled to reach the 
 North Anna in advance of us, and took position behind 
 it. The Fifth Corps reached the North Anna on tlie 
 afternoon of the 22d, closely followed by the Sixth 
 Corps. The Second and Ninth Corps got up about the 
 same time, the Second holding the railroad bridge, and 
 the Ninth lying between that and Jericho Ford. Gen- 
 eral Warren etfected a crossing tlie same afternoon, and 
 got a position without much opposition. Soon after 
 getting into position he was violently attacked, but 
 repulsed the enemy with great slaughter. On the 25th 
 General Sheridan rejoined the Army of the Potomac 
 from the raid on which he started from Spottsylvania, 
 having destroyed the depots at Beaver Dam and Ash- 
 land Stations, four trains of cars, large supphes of 
 rations, and many miles of railroad track ; recaptured 
 about four hundred of our men, on their wa}' to Rich- 
 mond as prisoners of war ; met and defeated the enemy's 
 cavahy at Yellow Tavern ; carried the first line of 
 works around Richmond ; but, finding the second line 
 too strong to be carried by assault, recrossed to the 
 north bank of the Chickahomiu}^ at Meadow's Bridge, 
 under heav}^ fire, and moved by a detour to Haxall's 
 Landing, on the James River, where he communicated 
 with General Butler. This raid had the etfect of draw- 
 ing off the whole of the enemy's cavalry force, and 
 making it com para tivel}' easy to guard our trains 
 
 Finding the enemy's position on the North Anna 
 stronger than either of his previous ones, I withdrew 
 on the night of the 26th to the north bank of the North 
 Anna, and moved via Hanovertown to turn the enemy's 
 position b}' his right. 
 
 Generals Torbert's and Merritt's divisions of cavalry, 
 under Sheridan, and the Sixth Corps, led the advance ; 
 crossed the Pamunky River at Hanovertown after con- 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 175 
 
 siderable fighting, and on the 28th the two divisions of 
 cavalry had a severe but successful engagement with 
 the enemy at Haw's shop. On the 29th and oOth we 
 advanced, with heavy skirmishing, to the Hanover 
 Court-House and Cold Harbor road, and developed the 
 enemj-'s position north of the Chickahominy. Late on 
 the evening of the last da}' the enem}' came out and 
 attacked our left, but was repulsed with very consider- 
 able loss. An attack was immediatel}" ordered b}^ Gen- 
 eral Meade along his whole line, which resulted in 
 driving the enemy from a part of his intrenched skir- 
 mish line. 
 
 On the 31st, General Wilson's division of cavalry 
 destroyed the railroad bridges over the South Anna 
 River, after defeating the enemy's cavalry. General 
 Sheridan on the same day reached Cold Harbor, and 
 held it until relieved by the Sixth Corps and General 
 Smith's command, which had just arrived, via White 
 House, from General Butler's army. 
 
 On the 1st day of June an attack was made at five 
 p. M. b}' the Sixth Corps and the troops under General 
 Smith, the other corps being held in readiness to ad- 
 vance on the receipt of orders. This resulted in our 
 carrying and holding the enem3^'s first line of works in 
 front of the right of the Sixth Corps and in front of 
 General Smith. During the attack the enemy made 
 repeated assaults on each of the corps not engaged in 
 the main attack, but were repulsed with heav}' loss in 
 ever}" instance. That night he made several assaults 
 to regain what he had lost in the day, but failed. The 
 2d was spent in getting troops into position for an 
 attack on the 3d. On the 3d of June we again assaulted 
 the enemy's works, in the hope of driving him from his 
 position. In this attempt our loss was heavy, while 
 that of the enem}', I have reason to believe, was com- 
 paratively light. It was the only general attack made 
 from the Rapidan to the James which did not inflict 
 upon the enemy losses to compensate for our own losses. 
 I would not be understood as saying that all previous ' 
 
176 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 attacks resulted in victories to our arras, or accom- 
 plished as much as I had hoped from them ; but they 
 inflicted upon the enem}' severe losses, whicli tended, in 
 the end, to the complete overthrow of the Rebellion. 
 
 grant's plans. 
 
 From the proximit}' of the enemy to his defences 
 around Richmond, it was impossible b}' any flank move- 
 ment to interpose between him and the cit}'. I was still 
 in a condition to either move bj^ his left flank and invest 
 Richmond from the north side, or continue my move by 
 his right flank to the south side of the James. While 
 the former might have been better as a covering for 
 Washington, yet a full survey' of all the ground satisfied 
 me that it would be impracticable to hold a line north 
 and east of Richmond that would protect the Fred- 
 ericksburg Railroad, — a long, vulnerable line, which 
 would exhaust much of our strength to guard, and that 
 would have to be protected to supply the army, and 
 would leave open to the enem}' all his lines of communi- 
 cation on the south side of the James. My idea, from 
 the start, had been to beat Lee's army north of Rich- 
 mond, if possible. Then, after destroying his lines of 
 communication north of the James River, to transfer 
 the army to the south side, and besiege Lee in Rich- 
 mond, or follow him south if he should retreat. After 
 the battle of the W^ilderness it was evident that the 
 enemy deemed it of the first importance to run no risks 
 with the army he then had. He acted purely on the 
 defensive behind breastworks, or feebly on the offensive 
 immediately in front of them, and where, in case of 
 repulse, he could easily retire behind them. Without a 
 greater sacrifice of life than I was wilhng to make, all 
 could not be accomplished that I had designed north of 
 Richmond. I therefore determined to continue to hold 
 substantially the ground we then occupied, taking ad- 
 vantage of an}' favorable circumstances that might 
 present themselves, until the cavalry could be sent to 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 177 
 
 Charlottesville and Gordonsville, to effectually break up 
 the railroad connection between Richmond and the 
 Shenandoah Valley and Lynchburg ; and, when the 
 cavahy got well off, to move the armj- to the south side 
 of the James River, b}^ the enemy's right flank, where 
 I felt I could cut off all his sources of supply except by 
 the canal. 
 
 CAUSE AND EFFECT. 
 
 During three long 3'ears the armies of the Potomac 
 and Northern Virginia had been confronting each other. 
 In that time the}' had fought more desperj^te battles 
 than it probabl}' ever before fell to the lot of two armies 
 to fight, without materially changing the vantage-ground 
 of either. The Southern press and people, with more 
 shrewdness than was displaj-ed in the North, finding 
 that the}' had failed to capture Washington and march 
 on to New York, as they had boasted the}^ would do, 
 assumed that they only defended their capital and 
 Southern territory. Hence, Antietam, Gettysburg, and 
 all the other battles that had been fought, were b}' them 
 set down as failures on our part, and victories for them. 
 Their arm}' believed this. It produced a morale which 
 could only be overcome by desperate and continuous 
 hard fighting. The battles of the Wilderness, Spott- 
 sylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor, bloody and 
 terrible as they were on our side, were even more 
 damaging to the enemy, and so crippled him as to 
 make him wary ever after of taking the offensive. His 
 losses in men were probably not so great, owing to the 
 fact that we were, save in the Wilderness, almost 
 invariably the attacking party ; and when he did attack 
 it was in the open field. The details of these battles, 
 which for endurance and bravery on the part of the 
 soldiery have rarely been surpassed, are given in the 
 report of Major-General Meade, and the subordinate 
 reports accompanying it. — Gen. Grant. 
 
 12 
 
178 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 We cannot copy from General Meade's reports, 
 though the boj^s read them with eager interest. 
 Here are some little details of that slow advance 
 through the Wilderness. 
 
 ONE OF THE ATTACKS. 
 
 As soon as the troops were in readiness, general 
 orders were read to them, detailing the brilHant opera- 
 tions of General Sherman in the West, and General 
 Butler south of Richmond. This news fired the ardor 
 of the troops, and each man seemed to be determined 
 not to be outdone by those belonging to the other com- 
 mands. A wild enthusiasm was apparent in their eyes, 
 and for a moment the men appeared to be ungovernable. 
 But the word of command restored order and silence. 
 General Grant, surrounded by his staff, took up a 
 prominent and elevated position, and the corps com- 
 manders also occupied eminences within view of the 
 General-in-chief and of each other. They were thus 
 enabled to watch the movements of the vast columns 
 of the mighty army as the}' advanced to the respective 
 positions whence they were to make the attack 
 
 The hour for the assault was fixed at half past six, 
 and once more the time-pieces were compared. The 
 generals separated, to take up their assigned positions 
 and to direct their troops to victory. The signal guns 
 boomed aloud, and twelve reports declared that the 
 moment had arrived for the attack. A wild cheer rang 
 along the whole hue, and the mass advanced with a 
 steadj' front, — column after column, line after line, the 
 whole moving together. In the face of a murderous 
 fire our troops pushed on determinedh', each cor})s 
 fighting its own battle, until the army was master of 
 the field. Two thousand prisoners were taken, and, 
 when night closed, the Union forces were the conquer- 
 ors. — N. Y, Herald. 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 179 
 
 CHARGE OF THE VERMONT BRIGADE. 
 
 Too much cannot be said in praise of the gallant 
 charge of the Vermont Brigade, commanded by Colonel 
 Grant. On the 10th of May, after the line of Rebel 
 works was carried, and their expected support did not 
 come up, the division of General Russell not being 
 able to remain, owing to the galling fire poured into 
 their serried ranks by the second Une of the enemj-'s 
 rifle-pits, and being in imminent danger of being cut 
 off from the main line, on account of their advanced 
 position, had to fall -back, and along with them their 
 prisoners, nearly two thousand in number. Twelve 
 l^ieces of cannon were in the works. These had to be 
 left, as they could not be removed, and they had not 
 with them the necessary implements for spiking them. 
 The Vermont Brigade utterly refused to fall back upon 
 the main line, even after the position had been occupied 
 two hours, and they had given up all hopes of being 
 reinforced. Colonel Upton rode down to them and told 
 them how dangerous it was to attempt to hold the works 
 they were in, since their last round of cartridge had 
 been discharged at the enem}', and the}' were rapidly 
 being flanked. But the blood of the Green Mountain 
 B03S was up, and they absolutely refused to budge a 
 single hair from the field they had wrested from the 
 enemy, and from the spot where their comrades had 
 fallen. Colonel Upton, assisted b}' some of their 
 own officers, by promising them another charge when 
 they had supplied themselves with ammunition, at last 
 induced them sullenly to retire. — Mr. Long, N. T, 
 Herald. 
 
 PICKET FIRING AND THE REASON. 
 
 All last evening and night there was a constant 
 musketry-firing in our immediate front. Thinking it 
 unusuall}' incessant, I inquired the cause, and it seems 
 that between our two skirmish lines are fifteen of our 
 
180 STORIES Wold by soldiers. 
 
 captured cannon, which we had been unable to take 
 from the field. The enemy was determined that we 
 should not get them, and our men were as determined 
 that they should not go back again into the possession 
 of the enem}'. Hence the constant mutual firing. The 
 possession of these guns promises to become a hotly 
 contested point before it is decided. — Mr. Hendrick, 
 N. Y. Herald. 
 
 FIGHT WITH FIEE. 
 
 Unfortunately the dr}^ logs of which the breastwork 
 was formed were but partiall}^ covered with earth ; and 
 the flames ignited b}' the burning wadding during the 
 conflict — an enemy that could not be resisted as easil}'' 
 as the myrmidons of Longstreet — destroyed them, and 
 every second of time widened the breaches. The un- 
 daunted men crowded together until they formed fourteen 
 or sixteen ranks ; and those who were in the front dis- 
 charged the guns which were constantly passed to them 
 by their comrades who were in the rear and could not 
 aim with accuracy or safety. The fire triumphed when 
 it flashed along the entire barrier of wood, reduced it to 
 ashes, and forced the defenders, who had withstood to 
 the last its intolerable heat, to retire to the rifle-pits 
 which were a short distance in the rear. — Capt. Blake, 
 llth Mass. 
 
 BACK AND FORTH. 
 
 Both armies had protected their main columns by fell- 
 ing trees and forming almost impassable abatis, and the 
 fighting was done principally by divisions sent out from 
 these lines. The movements during the entire battle 
 were of a remarkable character, most expressively de- 
 scribed as seesaw, — the Rebels making frantic efforts 
 to pierce our lines, first at one point and then an- 
 other, to be driven back by our troops, who charged 
 impetuously up to the Rebel barricades. It is impossi- 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 181 
 
 ble now to particularize the individual achievements of 
 divisions, as these were frequently taken from one 
 corps to support another, and at times one corps com- 
 mander would have under his direction nearl}' one half 
 the army. Occasional!}' there was considerable dis- 
 order, but nothing serious, as troops that broke and ran 
 in the wildest manner afterwards made some of the 
 most brilliant charges of the da}-. — N. T. Herald. 
 
 After the Wilderness fighting the armies of the 
 Potomac and of the James were united. The 
 James River was so bridged that communication 
 could be readily kept up between North and 
 South. From this time till Richmond fell, in the 
 next spring, the united armies were surrounding 
 the two cities of Richmond and Petersburg more 
 and more closely, and compelling them to draw all 
 supplies from the west and northwest exclusively. 
 
 Lee and his generals were eager at every pos- 
 sible moment to try the old strategy, of dashing 
 down the valley of the Shenandoah to alarm 
 Washington or the Northern States. But this 
 time they had General Phil Sheridan before them. 
 After the raid which Grant describes in the 
 despatch you have read, he was in command in the 
 Valley of Virginia. 
 
 There is hardly a boy or a girl who has not read 
 the ballad of Sheridan's Ride. Here is his own 
 description of that day, and what led to it. 
 
 He is speaking of a plan which he did not ap- 
 prove of, — for which the consultations called him 
 away. 
 
182 STORIES Told by soldiers. 
 
 SHERIDAN S RIDS. 
 
 This plan I would not indorse, but in order to settle 
 it definitely, I was called to Washington b}' the follow- 
 ing telegram : — 
 
 "Washington, October 13, 1864. 
 Major-General Sheridan [thronrjh General Augur] : — 
 
 If you can come liere a consultation on several points is 
 extremely desirable. I propose to visit General Grant, and would 
 like to see you first. 
 
 (Signed,) E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
 
 On the evening of the 15th, I determined to go, 
 believing that the enen\y at Fisher's Hill could not 
 accomplish much, and as 1 had concluded not to attack 
 him at present, I ordered the whole of the cavalry force 
 under General Torbert to accompan}- me to Front 
 Royal, from whence I intended to push it through 
 Chester Gap to the Virginia Central Railroad at 
 Charlottesville, while I passed through INIanassas Gap 
 to Piedmont, thence by rail to Washington. Upon my 
 arrival with the cavalry at Front Royal, on the night 
 of the 16th, I received the following despatch from Gen- 
 eral Wright, who was left at Cedar Creek in command 
 of the arm}' : — 
 
 Head-quarters, Middle Military Division, 
 October IG, l!<()4. 
 
 Major-General p. H. Sheridan, commanding Middle Military 
 Division : — 
 General : — I enclose you despatch which explains itself. [See 
 copy folio wing ] 
 
 If the enemy should be strongly reinforced in cavalry, he 
 might, by turning our right, give us a great deal of trouble. I 
 shall bold on b.ere mitil the enemy's movements are developed, 
 and shall only fear an attack on my right, which I shall make 
 every preparation for guarding against and resisting. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 (Signed,) H. G. Wright, Major-General Commanding. 
 
 To Lieutenant-General Early : — 
 
 Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will ci-ush 
 Sheridan. 
 
 (Signed,) Longstreet, Lieutenant-General. 
 
SHERIDAN'S RIDE. 183 
 
 This message was taken off the Rebel signal flag, on 
 Threetop Mountain. 
 
 My first thought was that it was a ruse^ but, on reflec- 
 tion, deemed it best to abandon the cavahy raid, and 
 give to General Wright the entire strength of the arm}'. 
 I therefore ordered the cavahy to return and report to 
 him, and addressed the following note on the subject : — 
 
 Head-quarters Mirlrlle Military Division, 
 Front Royal, October 16, 1854. 
 
 Major-Gen. H. G. Wright, commnndinf] Sixth Army Corps : — 
 
 General: — The cavalry is all ordered back to you; make 
 your position strong. If Longstreet's despatch is true, he is under 
 the impression that we have largely detached, I will go over to 
 Augur, and may get additional news. 
 
 Close in Colonel Powell, who will be at this point. If the 
 enemy should make an advance, I know you will defeat him. 
 Look well to your ground and be well prepared. Get up every- 
 thing that can be spared. I will bring up all I can, and will be 
 up on Tuesday, if not sooner. 
 
 (■Signed,) P. H. Sheridan, Major- General. 
 
 After sending this note, I continued through Manas- 
 sas Gap and on to Piedmont, and from thence b}' rail 
 to Washington, arriving on the morning of the 17th. 
 At 12 o'clock M., I returned by special train to Martins- 
 burg, arriving on the evening of the 18th at Winchester, 
 in compan}' with Colonels Thom and Alexander, of the 
 Engineer Corps, sent with me by General Halleck. 
 During m}^ absence the enemy had gathered all his 
 strength, and, in the night of the 18th, and early on the 
 19th, moved silently from Fisher's Hill, through Stras- 
 burg, pushed a heav}' turning column across the She- 
 nandoah, on the road from Strasburg to Front Royal, 
 and again recrossed the river at Bowman's Ford, strik- 
 ing Crook, who held the left of our line, in flank and 
 rear, so unexpectedly and forcibl}' as to drive in his out- 
 posts, invade his camp, and turn his position. This 
 surprise was owing, proliabl}', to not closing in Powell, 
 or to the cavalry divisions of Merritt and Custer being 
 placed on the right of our line, where it had always 
 occurred to me there was but little danger of attack. 
 
184 STORIES WLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 This was followed by a direct attack upon our front, 
 and the result was, that the whole army was driven 
 back in confusion, to a point about one and a half miles 
 north of IMiddletown, a very large portion of the in- 
 fantr}^ not even preserving a company organization. 
 
 At about seven o'clock on the morning of the 19th of 
 October, an officer on picket at Winchester reported 
 artillery firing ; but, supposing it resulted from a recon- 
 noissance which had been ordered for this morning, I 
 paid no attention to it, and was unconscious of the true 
 condition of aftairs until about nine o'clock, when, hav- 
 ing ridden through the town of Winchester, the sound 
 of the artillery made a battle unmistakable, and, on 
 reaching Mill Creek, half a mile south of Winchester, 
 the head of the fugitives appeared in sight, trains and 
 men coming to the rear with appalling rapiditj". 
 
 I immediately gave directions to halt and park the 
 trains at Mill Creek, and ordered the brigade at Win- 
 chester to stretch across the country and stop all strag- 
 glers. Taking twenty men from my escort, I pushed 
 on to the front, leaving the balance, under General 
 Forsyth and Colonels Thom and Alexander, to do what 
 they could in stemming the torrent of fugitives. 
 
 I am happy to say that hundreds of the men, who, on 
 reflection, found they had not done themselves justice, 
 came back with cheers. 
 
 On arriving at the front, I found Merritt's and Cus- 
 ter's divisions of cavahy, under Torbert, and General 
 Getty's division of the Sixth Corps, opposing the en- 
 emy. I suggested to General AYright that we would 
 fight on Getty's line, and to transfer Custer to the right 
 at once, as he (Custer) and Merritt, from being on the 
 right in the morning, had been transferred to the left, 
 — that the remaining two divisions of the Sixth Corps, 
 which were to the right and rear of Getty about two 
 miles, should be ordered up, and also that the Nine- 
 teenth Corps, which was on the right and rear of these 
 two divisions, should be hastened up before the enemy 
 attacked Gett}'. 
 
SHERIDAN'S RIDE. 185 
 
 I then started out all m}- staff officers to bring up 
 these troops, and was so convinced that we would soon 
 be attacked, that I w^ent back m3-selfto urge them on. 
 
 Immediately after, I returned and assumed com- 
 mand, General Wright returning to his corps, Gett}- to 
 his division, and the line of battle was formed on the 
 l^rolongation of General Gett^-'s line, and a temporary 
 breastwork of rails, logs, &c. thrown up hastily. 
 
 Shortl}" after this was done, the enemy advanced, 
 and, from a point on the left of our line of battle, I 
 could see his columns moving to the attack, and at 
 once notified corps commanders to be prepared. 
 
 This assault fell principally on the Nineteenth Corps, 
 and was repulsed. 
 
 I am pleased to be able to state that the strength of 
 the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, and Crook's command, 
 was now being rapidl}^ augmented b}' the return of 
 those who had gone to the rear early in the day. 
 
 Reports coming in from the Front Ro3'al pike, on 
 which Powell's division of cavahy was posted, to the 
 effect that a heav}' column of infantry was moving on 
 that pike in the direction of Winchester, and that he 
 (Powell) was retiring, and would come in at Newtown, 
 caused me great anxietj' for the time, and, although I 
 could not fulh^ believe that such a movement would be 
 undertaken, still it delaj^ed m}^ general attack. 
 
 At four o'clock p. m. I ordered the advance. 
 
 This attack was brilliantl}^ made, and, as the enemy 
 was protected by rail breastworks, and at some por- 
 tions of his line b}' stone fences, his resistance was 
 verj' determined. His line of battle overlapped the 
 right of mine, and, by turning with this portion of it 
 on the flank of the Nineteenth Corps, caused a slight 
 momentary confusion. This movement was checked, 
 however, by a counter-charge of General McMillan's 
 brigade upon the re-entering angle thus formed by 
 the enem}', and his flanking part}' cut off. 
 
 It was at this stage of the battle that Custer was 
 ordered to charge with his entire division: but, al- 
 
186 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 though the order was promptl}' obe^ecl, it was not in 
 time to capture the whole of the force thus cut off, 
 and many escaped across Cedar Creek. 
 
 Simultaneous!}' with this charge, a combined move- 
 ment of the whole line drove the enemy in confusion 
 to the Creek, where, owing to the difficulties of cross- 
 ing, his army became routed. 
 
 Custer, finding a ford on Cedar Creek west of the 
 Pike, and Devens, of Merritt's division, one to the east 
 of it, the}' each made the crossing just after dark, 
 and pursued the routed mass of the enemy to Fisher's 
 Hill, where this strong position gave him some pro- 
 tection against our cavalry, but the most of his trans- 
 portation liad been captured, the road from Cedar 
 Creek to Fisher's Hill, a distance of over three miles, 
 being literally blocked b}- wagons, ambulances, artil- 
 lery^, caissons, &c. 
 
 The enemy did not halt his main force at Fisher's 
 Hill, but continued the retreat during the night to 
 New Market, where his army had, on a similar pre- 
 vious occasion, come together by means of the nu- 
 merous roads that converge to this point. 
 
 This battle practically ended the campaign in the 
 Shenandoah Valley. When it opened, we found our 
 enemy boastful and confident, unwilling to acknowledge 
 that the soldiers of the Union were their equal in cour- 
 age and manliness ; when it closed with Cedar Creek, 
 this impression had been removed from his mind, and 
 gave place to good sense and a strong desire to quit 
 fighting. 
 
 The ver}' best troops of the Confederacy had not 
 onl}' been defeated, but had been routed in successive 
 engagements, until their spirit and esprit was de- 
 stroyed ; in obtaining these results, however, our loss 
 in officers and men was severe. Practicalh', all terri- 
 tory north of the James River now belonged to me, and 
 the holding of the lines about Petersburg and Rich- 
 mond by the enemy must have been embarrassing, 
 and invited the question of good military judgment. 
 
SHERIDAN'S RIDE. 187 
 
 On entering the Valley, it was not my object, by 
 flank movements, to make the enem}' change his base, 
 nor to move as far up as the James River, and thus 
 give him the opportunity of making me change my 
 base, therefore converting it into a race-course as here- 
 tofore, but to clestro}', to the best of my abilit}-, that 
 which was truly the Confederacy, — its armies ; in 
 doing this, so far as the opposing army was concerned, 
 our success was such that there was no one connected 
 with the army of the Shenandoah who did not so fully 
 realize it as to render the issuing of congratulatory 
 orders unnecessary ; every officer and man was made to 
 understand that, when a victor}' was gained, it was not 
 more than their duty, nor less than their country ex- 
 pected from her gallant sons ! 
 
 " Uncle Fritz," said Horace, " Phil Sheridan 
 never read your book about writing." 
 " How do you know that, boy ? " 
 " Oh ! he writes such awful long sentences." 
 " Well, my boy, I do not care how long your 
 sentences are, if you will do your work as well 
 as he." 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 
 
 IN March, 1864, when Grant was appointed 
 Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief, 
 he left Chattanooga and Nashville for the East. 
 General Sherman was then put in his place, with 
 Johnson in front of him, commanding what was 
 left of the army which had been defeated at Chat- 
 tanooga. 
 
 Sherman took the offensive as soon as the spring 
 came, and began driving the enemy back on At- 
 lanta. By a series of tactical manoeuvres, in sev- 
 eral instances by flanking his opponent, Sherman 
 forced him farther and farther back without any 
 serious battle, until, on the night of the 1st ot 
 September, Atlanta was abandoned. The whole 
 campaign was a moving siege. Johnson would 
 evacuate the lines which Sherman had rendered 
 untenable, and the next day he would be found, 
 ten miles back, behind another line of intrench- 
 ments. 
 
 Had this mode of offensive defence been con- 
 tinued, the famous " March to the Sea " would 
 never have been made, though the Union army 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT 31 ARCH. 189 
 
 was much, the superior ; but the Rebel government 
 was not satisfied with these slow measures, and 
 superseded General Johnson by General Hood, 
 a rash soldier, who did not possess the confidence 
 of the arm^i. He was not satisfied with looking 
 on while Sherman was establishing himself in At- 
 lanta, and with cutting his connections once in a 
 while. He looked with longing eyes to Tennessee, 
 and finally, early in October, he turned Sherman's 
 right, and attacked Allatoona, a fortified place 
 commanding the railroad north from Atlanta. If 
 he had taken it, he could, with a small number of 
 men, have kept Sherman south, while he marched 
 on Nashville. 
 
 But Allatoona was bravely defended by General 
 Corse, ^ and held against vastly superior numbers, 
 till it was relieved. Hood " caromed off," as 
 Sherman says, to the west, and then made himself 
 busy in equipping his army for a march north, 
 whether Sherman followed or no. 
 
 On this, Sherman sent two corps to General Tho- 
 mas, at Nashville, with orders to check Hood's ad- 
 vance, or to follow him, as the case might require. 
 He stripped Atlanta, and the northern posts as far 
 as Chattanooga, and, reserving for himself sixty- 
 five guns, with thirty days' rations and two hun- 
 dred rounds of ammunition for each of his sixty 
 thousand men, he sent the rest to Union ground. 
 
 1 Sherman's order, signalled to Corse, was the celebrated mes- 
 sage upon which the song " Hold the'Fort " is based. 
 
190 STORIE^^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Then he turned to the southeast, and set out for 
 the sea. 
 
 Savannah is three hundred miles from Atlanta. 
 In marching these three hundred miles, Sherman 
 meant to destroy the railroad system of Georgia, 
 to disgust the inhabitants of the State with war, 
 and so to cut the Rebellion through in a second 
 place, as Grant had cut it before when he took 
 Vicksburg. The capture of Savannah was a sec- 
 ondary point. 
 
 This has all been done now. The new depart- 
 ure in war has been taken. But then it was 
 another matter. To give up one base of supplies, 
 and to strike so far for another, through an en- 
 emy's country, was almost unheard of. What- 
 ever else generals abandoned, they kept open their 
 lines of connection. We have seen how, at a slight 
 pressure on his line of communication, before the 
 battle of Gettysburg, Lee totally changed his line 
 of march in order to save them. In this he was 
 following the usual practice, and for a general to 
 attempt to feed sixty thousand men from what he 
 could carry and collect in a hostile country, was 
 unknown. The authorities in Washington gave 
 only a reluctant consent, and there were too many 
 so-called authorities elsewhere who pronounced 
 Sherman crazy. For ahnost a month, no word 
 came to the North from him, except by the South- 
 ern newspapers, which insisted that he was retreat- 
 ing in disorder and on the point of destruction. 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 191 
 
 Great were the rejoicings in the North when they 
 learned that he had taken Fort McAllister, had 
 joined our fleet, and captured Savannah ! 
 
 Sherman met with but little resistance till he 
 reached Savannah ; his total loss in the campaign 
 was fourteen hundred, so that he was quite ready 
 to march north again through the Carolinas, and~ 
 receive the sword of his old rival, Johnson, when 
 the end came. 
 
 " HOLD THE FORT, FOR I AM COMING." 
 
 I inferred that Allatoona was their objective point, — 
 and on the 4th of October I signalled from Vining's 
 Station to Kenesaw, and from Kenesaw to Allatoona, 
 over the heads of the enemy, a message for General 
 Corse, at Rome, to hurr}^ back to the assistance of the 
 garrison at Allatoona. 
 
 Reaching Kenesaw Mountain about eight a. m. of 
 October 5th (a beautiful day), I had a superb view 
 of the vast panorama to the north and west. To the 
 southwest, about DaUas, could be seen the smoke of 
 camp-fires, indicating the presence of a large force 
 of the enem}^, and the whole line of railroad from Big 
 Shanty up to Allatoona (full fifteen miles) was marked 
 by the fires of the burning railroad. We could plainly 
 see the smoke of battle about Allatoona, and hear the 
 faint reverberation of the cannon. 
 
 From Kenesaw I ordered the Twenty-third Corps 
 (General Cox) to march due west on the Burnt Hick- 
 ory road, and to burn houses or piles of brush as it 
 progressed, to indicate the head of column, hoping to 
 interpose this corps between Hood's main army at 
 Dallas and the detachment then assaiUng Allatoona. 
 The rest of the army was directed straight for Alla- 
 toona, northwest, distant eighteen miles. The signal 
 
192 STORIEITTOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 officer on Kenesaw reported that since daj'light he had 
 failed to obtain any answer to his call for AUatoona ; 
 but, while I was with him, he caught a faint glimpse of 
 the tell-tale Hag through an embrasure, and after much 
 time he made out these letters, — " C," " R.," " 8.," 
 "E.," "H.," "E.," "R.," — and translated the mes- 
 sage, " Corse is here." It was a source of great relief, 
 for it gave me the first assurance that General Corse 
 had received his orders, and that the place was ade- 
 quatel3' garrisoned. 
 
 I watched with painful suspense the indications of 
 the battle raging there, and was dreadfully impatient 
 at the slow progress of the relieving column, whose 
 advance was marked by the smokes which were made 
 according to orders, but about two p. m. I noticed with 
 satisfaction that the smoke of battle about AUatoona 
 grew less and less, and ceased altogether about four 
 p. M. For a time I attributed this result to the effect 
 of General Cox's march, but later in the afternoon 
 the signal flag announced the welcome tidings that the 
 attack had been fairl}^ repulsed, but that General Corse 
 was wounded. 
 
 Inasmuch as the enemy had retreated southwest, 
 and would probably next appear at Rome, I answered 
 General Corse with orders to get back to Rome with 
 his troops as quickh^ as possible. 
 
 General Corse's report of this fight at AUatoona is 
 very full and graphic. It is dated Rome, October 27, 
 1864 ; recites the fact that he received his orders by 
 signal to go to the assistance of AUatoona on the 4th, 
 when he telegraphed to Kingston for cars, and a train 
 of thirty empty cars was started for him, but about ten 
 of them got off the track and caused dela}'. B}^ seven 
 p. M. he had at Rome a train of twenty cars, which he 
 loaded up with Colonel Rowett's brigade, and part of 
 the Twelfth Illinois Infantry; started at eight p. m., 
 reached AUatoona (distant thirty-five miles) at on-e 
 A. M. of the 5th, and sent the train back for more men ; 
 but the road was in bad order, and no more men came 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 193 
 
 in time. He found Colonel Tourtellotte's garrison com- 
 posed of eight hundred and ninet}' men ; ,his reinforce- 
 ment was one thousand and fifty-four : total for the 
 defence, nineteen hundred and forty-four. The out- 
 posts were alread}^ engaged, and as soon as da^'hght 
 came he drew back the men from the village to the 
 rido-e on which the redoubts were built. 
 
 ALLATOONA FIGHT. 
 
 The enem}' was composed of French's division of 
 three brigades, variously reported from four to five 
 thousand strong. This force graduall}' surrounded the 
 place by eight a. m., when General French sent in by 
 flag of truce this note : — 
 
 Around Allatoona, October 5, 1864. 
 Commanding Officer, United States Forces, Allatoona : — 
 
 I have placed the forces under my command in such positions 
 that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood 
 I call on you to surrender your forces at once, and uncondition- 
 ally. 
 
 Five minutes will be allowed you to decide. Should you 
 accede to this, you will be treated in the most honorable manner 
 as prisoners of war. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 
 S. G. French, 
 Major General commanding forces Confederate States. 
 
 General Corse answered immediately : — 
 
 Headquarters, Fourth Division, Fifteenth Corps, 
 Allatoona, Georgia, 8 30 A. M., Oct. 5, 1864. 
 
 Major General S. G. French, Confederate States, ^c: — 
 
 Your communication demanding surrender of my command I 
 acknowledge receipt of, and respectfully reply that we are pre- 
 pared for the "needless efiusion of blood" wlienever it is agree- 
 able to you. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 John M. Corse, 
 Brigadier- General commanding forces United States. 
 
 Of course the attack began at once, coming from 
 front, flank, and rear. There were two small redoubts, 
 
 13 
 
194 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 with slight parapets and ditches, one on each side of 
 the deep raih-oad-cut. These redoubts had been located 
 b}' Colonel Poe, United States Engineers, at the time 
 of our advance on Kenesavv, the previous June. Each 
 redoubt overlooked the storehouses close b}^ the rail- 
 road, and each could aid the other defensively by 
 catching in flank the attacking force of the other. Our 
 troops at first endeavored to hold some ground outside 
 the redoubts, but were soon driven inside, when the 
 enem}' made repeated assaults, but were always driven 
 back. About eleven a. m., Colonel Redfield, of the 
 Thirty-ninth Iowa, was killed, and Colonel Rowett was 
 wounded, but never ceased to fight and encourage his 
 men. Colonel Tourtellotte was shot through the hips, 
 but continued to command. General Corse was, at 
 one p. M., shot across the face, the ball cutting his ear, 
 which stunned him, but he continued to encourage his 
 men and to give orders. The enemy (about 1.30 p. m.) 
 made a last and desperate effort to carry one of the 
 redoubts, but was badly cut to pieces by the artillery 
 and infantr}^ fire from the other, when he began to draw 
 oflT, leaving his dead and wounded on the ground. 
 
 Before flnall}^ withdrawing. General French converged 
 a heavy fire of his cannon on the block-house at Alla- 
 toona Creek, about two miles from the depot, set it on 
 fire, and captured its garrison, consisting of four offi- 
 cers and eighty-five men. By four p. m. he was in full 
 retreat south, on the Dallas road, and got by before 
 the head of General Cox's column had reached it ; still, 
 several ambulances and stragglers were picked up by 
 this command on that road. General Corse reported 
 two hundred and thirty-one Rebel dead, four hundred 
 and eleven prisoners, three regimental colors, and eight 
 hundred muskets captured. 
 
 Among the prisoners was a Brigadier-General Young, 
 who thought that French's aggregate loss would reach 
 two thousand. Colonel Tourtellotte says that, for da^'s 
 after General Corse had returned to Rome, his men 
 found and buried at least a hundred more dead Rebels, 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 195 
 
 who had doubtless been wounded, and died in the 
 woods, near Allatoona. I know that when 1 reached 
 Allatoona, on the 9th, I saw a good many dead men, 
 which had been collected for burial. 
 
 Corse's entire loss, officially reported, was : — 
 
 Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. 
 Officers .... 6 23 6 35 
 
 Men im Sm _206 _672 
 
 Total ... 142 358 ~2l2 707 
 
 I esteemed this defence of Allatoona so handsome 
 and important, that I made it the subject of a general 
 order, viz. No. 86, of October 7, 1864 : — 
 
 The general commanding avails himself of the opportunity, in 
 the handsome defence made of Alhitoona, to illustrate tlie most 
 important principle in war, that fortified posts should be defended 
 to the last, regardless of the relative numbers of the party attack- 
 ing and attacked The thanks of tiiis army are due and are 
 
 hereby accorded to General Corse, Colonel Tourtellotte, Colonel 
 l\o\vett, officers, and men, for their determined and gallant de- 
 fence of Allatoona, and it is made an example to illustrate the 
 importance of preparing in time, and meeting the danger when 
 present, boldly, manfully, and well. 
 
 Commanders and garrisons of the posts along our railroad are 
 hereby instructed that they must hold their posts to the last 
 minute, sure that the time gained is valuable and necessary to 
 their comrades at the front. 
 
 By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman. 
 
 L. M. Dayton, Aid-de-Camp. 
 
 A PART OF THE FIELD ORDERS FOR THE 
 MARCH. 
 
 4. The army will forage liberally on the country dur- 
 ing the march. To this end, each brigade commander 
 will organize a good and sufficient foraging part}', under 
 the command of one or more discreet officers, who will 
 gather, near the route travelled, corn or forage of any 
 kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, corn-meal, or what- 
 ever is needed b}' the command, aiming at all times to 
 keep in the wagons at least ten days' provisions for his 
 
196 STORIES^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 command, and three da^'s' forage. Soldiers mnst not 
 enter the dwelUngs of the inhabitants, or commit any 
 trespass ; but, during a halt or camp, they may be 
 permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vege- 
 tables, and to drive in stock in sight of their camp. To 
 regular foraging-parties must be intrusted the gathering 
 of provisions and forage, at any distance from the road 
 travelled. 
 
 5. To corps commanders alone is intrusted the 
 power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, &c. ; and 
 for them this general principle is laid down : in districts 
 and neighborhoods where the ai-my is unmolested, no 
 destruction of such property should be permitted : but 
 should guerillas or bushwhackers molest our march, or 
 should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or 
 otherwise manifest local hostilit}^, then army command- 
 ers should order and enforce a devastation more or less 
 relentless, according to the measure of such hostilit3^ 
 
 6. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c., belonging to the 
 inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate 
 freely and without limit ; discriminating, however, be- 
 tween the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor and 
 industrious, usualh' neutral or friendly. Foraging-par- 
 ties may also take mules or horses, to replace the jaded 
 animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for 
 the regiments or brigades. In all foraging of whatever 
 kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive or 
 threatening language, and ma}^, where the officer in com- 
 mand thinks proper, give written certificates of the 
 facts, but no receipts ; and the}' will endeavor to leave 
 with each family a reasonable portion for their main- 
 tenance. 
 
 7. Negroes who are able-bodied and can be of ser- 
 vice to the several colunms may be taken along ; but 
 each army commander will bear in mind that the ques- 
 tion of supplies is a very important one, and that his 
 first duty is to see to those who bear arms. 
 
 8. The organization, at once, of a good pioneer 
 battalion for each arm}- corps, composed if possible of 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 197 
 
 negroes, should be attended to. This battalion should 
 follow the advance-guard, repair roads and double them 
 if possible, so that the columns will not be delayed 
 after reaching bad places. Also army commanders 
 should practise the habit of giving the artillery and 
 wagons the road, marching their troops on one side, 
 and instruct their troops to assist wagons at steep hills 
 or bad crossings of streams. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 THE MAECH BEGINS. 
 
 About seven a. m. of November 16th we rode out of 
 Atlanta by the Decatur road, filled by the marching 
 troops and wagons of the Fourteenth Corps ; and reach- 
 ing the hill, just outside of the old Rebel works, we 
 naturally paused to look back upon the scenes of our 
 past battles. We stood upon the verj^ ground whereon 
 was fought the blood}" battle of July 22d, and could 
 see the copse of wood where McPherson fell. Behind 
 us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black 
 smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over 
 the ruined cit}'. Away off in the distance, on the 
 McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, 
 the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped 
 wagons stretching away to the south ; and right before 
 us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, 
 with a cheerj" look and swinging pace, that made light 
 of the thousand miles that la}' between us and Rich- 
 mond. Some band, by accident, struck up the anthem 
 of ' ' John Brown's soul goes marching on " ; the men 
 caught up the strain, and never before or since have I 
 heard the chorus of " Glor}', glory, hallelujah!" done 
 with more spirit, or in better harmon}" of time and 
 place. 
 
 Then we turned our horses' heads to the east ; At- 
 lanta was soon lost behind the screen of trees, and 
 became a thing of the past. Around it clings many a 
 thought of desperate battle, of hope and fear, that now 
 seem like the memory of a dream ; and I have neve'r 
 
198 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 seen the place since. The da}' was extremely beautiful, 
 clear sunlight, with bracing air, and an unusual feeling 
 of exhilaration seemed to pervade all minds, — a feeling 
 of something to come, vague and undefined, still full 
 of venture and intense interest. PLven the common 
 soldiers caught the inspiration, and man}^ a group called 
 out to me as I worked my way past them, "Uncle 
 Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us at Richmond ! " 
 Indeed, the general sentiment was that we were march- 
 ing for Richmond, and that there we should end the 
 war, but how and when they seemed to care not ; nor 
 did they measure the distance, or count the cost in life, 
 or bother their brains about the great rivers to be 
 crossed, and the food required for man and beast, that 
 had to be gathered by the way. There was a ' • devil- 
 may-care" feeling pervading officers and men, that 
 made me feel the full load of responsibilit}', for success 
 would be accepted as a matter of course, whereas, 
 should we fail, this "march" would be adjudged the 
 wild adventure of a craz}^ fool. I had no purpose to 
 march direct for Richmond by wa}^ of Augusta and 
 Charlotte, but alwa3^s designed to reach the sea-coast 
 first at Savannah or Port Royal, South Carolina, and 
 even kept in mind the alternative of Pensacola. 
 
 The first night out we camped by the road-side near 
 Lithonia. Stone Mountain, a mass of granite, was in 
 plain view, cut out in clear outline against the blue sky ; 
 the whole horizon was lurid with the bonfires of rail- 
 ties, and groups of men all night were carrying the 
 heated rails to the nearest trees, and bending them 
 around the trunks. Colonel Poe had provided tools for 
 ripping up the rails and twisting them when hot ; but 
 the best and easiest way is the one I have described, of 
 heating the middle of the iron-rails on bonfires made 
 of the cross-ties, and then winding them around a tele- 
 graph-pole or the trunk of some convenient sapling. I 
 attached much importance to this destruction of the 
 railroad, gave it my own personal attention, and made 
 reiterated orders to others on the subject. 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 199 
 
 The next day we passed through the handsome town 
 of Covington, the soldiers closing up their ranks, the 
 color-bearers unfurling their flags, and the bands strik- 
 ing up patriotic airs. The white people came out of 
 their houses to behold the sight, spite of their deep 
 hatred of the invaders, and the negroes were simply 
 frantic with joy. Whenever the}^ heard my name, they 
 clustered about my horse, shouted and prayed in their 
 peculiar style, which had a natural eloquence that would 
 have moved a stone. I have witnessed hundreds, if not 
 thousands, of such scenes ; and can now see a poor 
 girl, in the very ecstas}- of the Methodist "shout," 
 hugging the banner of one of the regiments, and jump- 
 ing up to the " feet of Jesus." 
 
 I remember, when riding around by a by-street in 
 Covington, to avoid the crowd that followed the march- 
 ing column, that some one brought me an invitation to 
 dine with a sister of Sam. Anderson, who was a cadet 
 at West Point with me ; but the messenger reached me 
 after we had passed the main part of the town. I 
 asked to be excused, and rode on to a place designated 
 for camp, at the crossing of the Ulcofauhachee River, 
 about four miles to the east of the town. Here we 
 made our bivouac, and I walked up to a plantation- 
 house close by, where were assembled many negroes, 
 among them an old, gray-haired man, of as fine a head 
 as I ever saw. I asked him if he understood about the 
 war and its progress. He said he did ; that he had 
 been looking for the ' ' angel of the Lord " ever since 
 he was knee-high, and, though we professed to be fight- 
 ing for the Union, he supposed that slavery was the 
 cause, and that our success was to be his freedom. I 
 asked him if all the negro slaves comprehended this 
 fact, and he said the}^ surely did. I then explained to 
 him that we wanted the slaves to remain where they 
 were, and not to load us down with useless mouths, 
 which would eat up the food needed for our fighting- 
 men ; that our success was their assured freedom ; that 
 we could receive a few of their young, hearty men as 
 
200 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 pioneers ; but that, if they followed us in swarms of 
 old and young, feeble and helpless, it would simply load 
 us down and cripple us in our great task. I think 
 Major Hemy Hitchcock was wdth me on that occasion, 
 and made a note of the conversation, and I believe that 
 old man spread this message to the slaves, which was 
 carried from mouth to mouth, to the ver3' end of our 
 journe}', and that it in part saved us from the great 
 danger we incurred of swelling our numbers so that 
 famine would have attended our progress. It was at 
 this verj'' plantation that a soldier passed me with a 
 ham on his musket, a jug of sorghum-molasses under 
 his arm, and a big piece of hone}^ in his hand, from 
 which he was eating, and, catching m}' eye, he remarked 
 sotto voce and carelessl}' to a comrade, "Forage liberally 
 on the country," quoting from m}' general orders. On 
 this occasion, as on man}^ others that fell under my 
 personal observation, I reproved the man, explained 
 that foraging must be limited to the regular parties 
 properly detailed, and that all provisions thus obtained 
 must be delivered to the regular commissaries, to be 
 fairl}^ distributed to the men who kept their ranks. 
 
 The skill and success of the men in collecting forage 
 was one of the features of this march. Each brigade 
 commander had authorit}^ to detail a company of 
 foragers, usually about fifty men, with one or two com- 
 missioned officers selected for their boldness and enter- 
 prise. This part}^ would be despatched before da^dight, 
 with a knowledge of the intended day's march and 
 camp ; would proceed on foot five or six miles from the 
 route travelled by their brigade, and then visit every 
 plantation and farm within range. They would usually 
 procure a w-agon or family carriage, load it with bacon, 
 corn-meal, turkeys, chickens, ducks, and everything 
 that could be used as food or forage, and woukl then 
 regain the main road, usually in advance of their train. 
 When this came up, the}' would deliver to the brigade 
 commissary the supplies thus gathered by the way. 
 Often would I pass these foraging-parties at the road- 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 201 
 
 side, waiting for their wagons to come np, and was 
 amused at their strange collections, — mules, horses, 
 even cattle, packed with old saddles and loaded with 
 hams, bacon, bags of corn-meal, and poultry of every 
 character and description. Although this foraging was 
 attended with great danger and hard work, there 
 seemed to be a charm about it that attracted the 
 soldiers, and it was a privilege to be detailed on such a 
 party. Daily they returned mounted on all sorts of 
 beasts, which were at once taken from them and appro- 
 priated to the general use ; but the next day they would 
 start out again on foot, onl}' to repeat the experience 
 of the day before. No doubt, man}^ acts of pillage, 
 robber}^, and violence, were committed by these parties 
 of foragers, usually called "bummers"; for I have 
 since heard of jewelry taken from women, and the 
 plunder of articles that never reached the commissary ; 
 but these acts were exceptional and incidental. 
 
 I have seen much skill and industry displayed by 
 these quartermasters on the march, in trying to load 
 their wagons with corn and fodder by the way without 
 losing their place in column. The}' would, while march- 
 ing, shift the loads of wagons, so as to have six or ten 
 of them empt}". Then, riding well ahead, they would 
 secure possession of certain stacks of fodder near the 
 road, or cribs of corn, leave some men in charge, then 
 open fences and a road back for a couple of miles, 
 return to their trains, divert the empty wagons out of 
 column, and conduct them rapidly to their forage, load 
 up, and regain their place in column without losing dis- 
 tance. On one occasion I remember to have seen ten 
 or a dozen wagons thus loaded with corn from two or 
 three full cribs, almost without halting. These cribs 
 were built of logs, and roofed. The train-guard, b}' a 
 lever, had raised the whole side of the crib a foot or 
 two ; the wagons drove close alongside, and the men in 
 the cribs, Mug on their backs, kicked out a wagon-load 
 of corn in the time I have taken to describe it. 
 
 In a well-ordered and well-disciplined army, these 
 
202 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 things might be deemed irregular, hut I am convinced 
 that the ingenuity- of these 3'ounger officers accompUshed 
 man}' things far better than I could have ordered, and 
 the marches were thus made, and the distances were 
 accomplished, in the most admirable way. Habitually 
 we started from camp at the earliest break of dawn, and 
 usually reached camp soon after noon. The marches 
 varied from ten to fifteen miles a day, though sometimes 
 on extreme flanks it was necessary to make as much as 
 twenty, but the rate of travel was regulated b}' the 
 wagons ; and, considering the nature of the roads, 
 fifteen miles per da}^ was deemed the limit. 
 
 The pontoon trains were in like manner distributed 
 in about equal proportions to the four corps, giving 
 each a section of about nine hundred feet. The pon- 
 toons were of the skeleton pattern, with cotton-canvas 
 covers, each boat, with its proportion of balks and 
 chesses, constituting a load for one wagon. By uniting 
 two such sections together, we could make a bridge of 
 eighteen hundred feet, enough for an}' river we had to 
 traverse ; but habitually the leading brigade would, out 
 of the abundant timber, improvise a bridge before the 
 pontoon train could come up, unless in the cases of 
 rivers of considerable magnitude. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 CUTTING LOOSE. 
 
 November l^th. — Yesterday the last train of cars 
 wfiirled rapidly past the troops moving south, speeding 
 over bridges and into the woods as if they feared they 
 might be left helpless in the deserted land. At Car- 
 tersville the last communications with the North were 
 so^'ered with the telegraph-wire. It bore the message 
 to General Thomas, "All is well." And so we have 
 cut adrift from our base of operations, from our line of 
 communications, launching out into uncertaint}' at the 
 best, on a journe}^ whose projected end only a few in 
 the command know. Its real fate and destination they 
 do not know, since that rests with the goodness of God 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 203 
 
 and the brave hearts and strong limbs of otir soldiers. 
 The histor}' of war bears no similar example, except 
 that of Cortes burning his ships. It is a bold, hazard- 
 ous undertaking. There is no backward step possible 
 here. Thirty daj's' rations and a new base : that time 
 and those supphes will be exhausted in the most rapid 
 march ere we can arrive at the nearest sea-coast ; 
 arrived there, what then? I never heard that manna 
 grew on the sand-beaches or in the marshes, though 
 we are sure that we can obtain forage on our wa}^ ; and 
 I have reason to know that General Sherman is in the 
 highest degree sanguine and cheerful, — sure even of 
 success. 
 
 As for the soldiers, they do not stop to ask questions. 
 Sherman says "Come," and that is the entire vocabu- 
 lary to them. A most cheerful feature of the situation 
 is the fact that the men are healthful and jolly as men 
 can be ; hoping for the best, willing to dare the worst. 
 
 Behind us we leave a track of smoke and flame. 
 Half of Marietta was burned up, — not by orders, how- 
 ever ; for the command is that proper details shall be 
 made to destro}' all propert}' which can ever be of use 
 to the Rebel armies. Stragglers will get into these 
 places, and dwelling-houses are levelled to the ground. 
 In nearly all cases these are the deserted habitations 
 formerl}^ owned by Rebels who are now refugees. 
 
 Yesterday, as some of our men were marching 
 toward the Chattahoochee River, the}' saw in the dis- 
 tance pillars of smoke rising along its banks, — the 
 bridges were in flames. Said one, hitching his musket 
 on his shoulder in a free and easy wa}', "I say, 
 Charley, I believe Sherman has set the river on fire." 
 " Reckon not," replied the other, with the same in- 
 difference ; "if he has, it's all right." And so they 
 pass along ; obeying orders, not knowing what is 
 before them, but believing in their leader. 
 
 From Kingston to Atlanta the rails have been taken 
 up on the road, fires built about them, and the iron 
 twisted into all sorts of curves ; thus they are left, never 
 
204 STORIE^^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 to be straightened again. The Rebel inhabitants are 
 in agon}' of wonder at all this queer manoeuvring. It 
 appears as if we intended evacuating Atlanta ; but our 
 troops are taking the wrong direction for the hopes and 
 purposes of these people. 
 
 Atlanta is entirely cleserted by human beings, except- 
 ing a few soldiers here and there. The houses are 
 vacant ; there is no trade or traffic of any kind ; the 
 streets are empt3^ Beautiful roses bloom in the gar- 
 dens of fine houses, but a terrible stillness and solitude 
 cover all, depressing the hearts even of those who are 
 glad to destro}' it. In the peaceful homes at the North 
 there can be no conception how these people have suf- 
 fered for their crimes. — Capt. Nichols. 
 
 BREAKING CAMP. 
 
 The order of march is issued by the arm}' command- 
 ers the preceding night, from them to the corps com- 
 manders, and then pass along until every soldier, 
 teamster, and camp-follower knows that an early start 
 is to be made. " The second division will be on the 
 Milledgeville road promptl}' at five o'clock," reads an 
 order, by way of instance. 
 
 At three o'clock the watch-fires are burning dimly, 
 and, but for the occasional neighing of horses, all is so 
 silent that it is difficult to imagine that twenty thousand 
 men are within a radius of a few miles. The ripple of 
 the brook can be distinctly heard as it breaks over the 
 pebbles, or wdnds petulantly about the gnarled roots. 
 The wind sweeping gently through the tall pines over- 
 head only serves to lull to deeper repose the slumberiug 
 soldier, who in his tent is dreaming of his far-off North- 
 ern home. 
 
 But in an instant all is changed. From some com- 
 manding elevation the clear-toned bugle sounds out the 
 reveille, and another and another responds, until the 
 startled echoes double and treble the clarion calls. 
 Intermingled with this comes the beating of drums, 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 205 
 
 often rattling and jarring on unwilling ears. In a few 
 moments the peaceful quiet is replaced b}' noise and 
 tumult, arising from hill and dale, from field and for- 
 est. Camp-fires, hitherto extinct or smouldering in 
 dull gra}' ashes, awaken to new life and brillianc}', and 
 send forth their sparks high into the morning air. Al- 
 though no gleam of sunrise blushes in the east, the 
 harmless flames on every side light up the scene, so 
 that there is no disorder or confusion. 
 
 The aesthetic aspects of this sudden change do not, 
 however, occup}- much of the soldier's time. He is 
 more practicall}' engaged in getting his breakfast ready. 
 The potatoes are frying nicely in the well-larded pan, 
 the chicken is roasting delicately on the red-hot coals, 
 and grateful fumes from steaming cofi'ee-pots delight 
 the nostrils. The animals are not less bus}'. An am- 
 ple supply of corn and huge piles of fodder are greedily 
 devoured b}' these faithful friends of the bo3's in blue, 
 and an}' neglect is quickly made known by the pawing 
 of neighing horses and the fearful braying of the mules. 
 Amid all is the busy clatter of tongues and tools, — a 
 Babel of sound, forming a contrast to the quiet of the 
 previous hour as marked as that between peace and 
 war. 
 
 Then the animals are hitched into the traces, and the 
 droves of cattle reUeved from the night's confinement in 
 the corral. Knapsacks are strapped, men seize their 
 trusty weapons, and as again the bugles sound the note 
 of command, the soldiers fall into line and file out upon 
 the road, to make another stage of their journey, — it 
 may be to win fresh laurels in another victory, or per- 
 haps to find a rest which shall only be broken by the 
 reveille of the last trump. 
 
 A day's march varies according to the country to be 
 traversed or the opposition encountered. If the map 
 indicates a stream crossing the path, probably the 
 strong party of mounted infantry or of cavalry which 
 has been sent forward the day before has found the 
 bridges burned, and then the pontoons are pushed on 
 
206 STORI^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 to the front. If a battle is anticipated, the trains are 
 shifted to the rear of the centre. Under any circum- 
 stances, the divisions having the lead move unencum- 
 bered b}^ wagons, and in close fighting trim. The 
 ambulances following in the rear of the division are in 
 such close proximit}^ as to be available if needed. In 
 the rear of each regiment follow the pack-mules, laden 
 with ever}' kind of camp baggage, including blankets, 
 pots, pans, kettles, and all the kitchen-ware needed for 
 cooking. Here will be found the led horses, and with 
 them the negro servants, who form an important fea- 
 ture of the menage. 
 
 Having placed the column upon the road, let us now 
 follow that long line of muskets gleaming in the ra^'s of 
 the morning sunlight, and lide, heedless of the crack of 
 the rifles, to the head of the column. The advance are 
 driving a squad of Rebel cavalry before them so fast 
 that the march is not in the least impeded. The flank- 
 ers spread out, on a line parallel to the leading troops, 
 for several hundred 3'ards, more or less, as the occasion 
 may require. The}^ search through the swamps and 
 forests, ready for an}' concealed foe, and anxiously 
 looking out for any line of works which may have been 
 thrown up by the enemy to check our progress. Here 
 the general of the division, if a fighting man, is most 
 likely to be found ; his experienced eye noting that 
 there is no serious opposition, he orders up a brigade 
 or another regiment, who, in soldier's phVaseology, send 
 the Rebel rascals "• kiting," and the column moves on. 
 A large plantation appears by the road-side. If the 
 " bummers" have been ahead, the chances are that it 
 has been visited, in which event the interior is apt to 
 show evidences of confusion ; but the barns are full of 
 corn and fodder, and parties are at once detailed to 
 secure and convey the prize to the road-side. As the 
 wagons pass along, they are not allowed to halt, but 
 the grain or fodder is stufted into the front and rear of 
 the veliicles as they pass, the unhandy operation af- 
 fording much amusement to the soldiers, and not uu- 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 207 
 
 frequentl}' giving them a poor excuse for swearing as 
 well as langliing. 
 
 When the treasure-trove of grain and poultry and 
 vegetables has been secured, one man is detailed to 
 guard it until the proper wagon comes along. Num- 
 bers of these details will be met, who, with proper 
 authorit}', have started off early in the morning, and 
 have struck out miles awa}^ from the flank of the 
 column. They sit upon some cross-road, surrounded 
 with their spoils, — chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, 
 pigs, hogs, sheep, calves, nicel3'-dressed hams, buckets 
 full of honey, and pots of fresh white lard. 
 
 A Roman consul, returning with victorious eagles, 
 could not wear a more triumphant air than this sol- 
 itary guard. The soldiers see it, and gibe him as they 
 pass. 
 
 " Say, 3^ou thar ! where did you steal them pigs? " 
 
 " Steal ! " is the indignant response ; " steal ! — per- 
 haps you would hke to have one of ' the?n ' pigs 
 yourself." 
 
 An officer who is riding along gazes upon the appetiz- 
 ing show. He has recently joined, never has been on 
 one of Sherman's raids, and does not know that a sol- 
 dier will not sell his chickens- for any price. 
 
 " Ah ! a nice pair of ducks 3'ou have there, soldier ; 
 what will you take for them ? " 
 
 Firmly, but respectfully, the forager makes answer, 
 touching his cap the while, "They are not in the 
 market. We iiever sell our stuff, sir, — could n't think 
 of it." — Capt. Nichols. 
 
 TORPEDOES. 
 
 General Hardee was ahead, between us and Savannah, 
 with McLaw's division, and other irregular troops, that 
 could not, I felt assured, exceed ten thousand men. I 
 caused the fine depot at Millen to be destroyed, and 
 other damage done, and then resumed the march directly 
 on Savannah, by the four main roads. The Seventeenth 
 
208 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Corps (General Blair) followed substantially the rail- 
 road, and, along with it, on the 5th of December, I 
 reached Ogeechee Church, about lift}^ miles from Savan- 
 nah, and found there fresh earth-works, which had been 
 thrown up by McLaw's division ; but he must have seen 
 that both his flanks were being turned, and prudently 
 retreated to Savannah without a fight. All the columns 
 then pursued leisurel}' their march toward Savannah, 
 corn and forage becoming more and more scarce, but 
 rice-fields beginning to occur along the Savannah and 
 Ogeechee Rivers, which proved a good substitute, both 
 as food and forage. The weather was fine, the roads 
 good, and everything seemed to favor us. Never do I 
 recall a jnore agreeable sensation than the sight of our 
 camps b}' night, lit up b}' the fires of fragrant pine-knots. 
 The trains were all in good order, and the men seemed 
 to march their fifteen miles a day as though it were 
 nothing. No enem}^ opposed us, and we could only 
 occasional!}' hear the faint reverberation of a gun to our 
 left rear, where we knew that General Kilpatrick was 
 skirmishing with Wheeler's cavahy, which persistently 
 followed him. But the infantry columns had met with 
 no opposition whatsoever. McLaw's division was fall- 
 ing back before us, and we occasionally picked up a few 
 of his men as prisoners, who insisted that we would 
 meet with strong opposition at Savannah. 
 
 On the 8th, as I rode along, I found the column 
 turned out of the main road, marching through the fields. 
 Close b}', in the corner of a fence, was a group of men 
 standing around a handsome 3'oung officer, whose foot 
 had been blown to pieces by a torpedo planted in the 
 road. He was waiting for a surgeon to amputate his 
 leg, and told me that he was riding along with the rest 
 of his brigade staff of the Seventeenth Corps, when a 
 torpedo trodden on by his horse had exploded, killing 
 the horse and literall}' blowing off all the flesh from one 
 of his legs. I saw the terrible wound, and made full 
 inquiry into the facts. There had been no resistance 
 at that point, nothing to give warning of danger, and 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 209 
 
 the Rebels had planted eight- inch shells in the road, 
 with friction matches to explode them b}- being trodden 
 on. This was not war, but murder, and it made me 
 very angr3\ I immediatelj- ordered a lot of Rebel 
 prisoners to be brought from the provost-guard, armed 
 with picks and spades, and made them march in close 
 order along the road, so as to explode their own torpe- 
 does, or to discover and dig them up. The}'' begged 
 hard, but I reiterated the order, and could hardly help 
 laughing at their stepping so gingerl}' along the road, 
 where it was supposed sunken torpedoes might explode 
 at each step, but the}^ found no other torpedoes till 
 near Fort McAllister. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 At Sandersville I halted the left wing until I heard 
 that the right wing was abreast of us on the railroad. 
 Daring the evening a negro was brought to me, who had 
 that day been to the station (Tenille) , about six miles 
 south of the town. I inquired of him if there were any 
 Yankees there, and he answered, " Yes." He described 
 in his own wa}^ what he had seen. " First, there come 
 along some cavahy-men, and the}^ burned the depot ; 
 then come along some infantr3^-men, and they tore up 
 the track, and burned it " ; and just before he left 
 they had " sot fire to the well" ! 
 
 The next morning, viz. the 27th, I rode down to the 
 station, and found General Corse's division (of the 
 Fifteenth Corps) engaged in destro.ying the railroad, 
 and saw the well which my negro informant had seen 
 "burnt." It was a square pit about twentj'-five feet 
 deep, boarded up, with wooden steps leading to the 
 bottom, wherein was a fine copper pump, to hft the 
 water to a tank above. The soldiers had broken up 
 the pump, heaved in the steps and hning, and set fire 
 to the mass of lumber in the bottom of the well, which 
 corroborated the negro's description. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 14 
 
210 STORII^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 MARCH THROUGH THE PINES. 
 
 All day long the army has been moving through 
 magnificent pine woods. I have never seen, and I can- 
 not conceive, a more picturesque sight. The pines, 
 destitute of branches, rise to a height of eighty or 
 ninety feet, their tops being crowned with tufts of pure 
 green. They are widely apart, so that frequently two 
 trains of wagons and troops in double column are 
 marching abreast. In the distance may be seen a 
 troop of horsemen, — some general and his staff", — 
 turning about here and there, their ga}' uniforms and 
 red and white flags contrasting harmoniousl}' with the 
 bright 3^ellow grass underneath and the deep evergreen. 
 War has its romance and its pleasures, and nothing 
 could be more delightful, nor can there be more beauti- 
 ful subjects for the artist's pencil, than a thousand 
 sights which have met my eye for days past, and 
 which can never be seen outside the army. There is, 
 b}' the way, a most excellent artist accompanying the 
 expedition, who is working for the Harpers. His 
 sketches are artistically executed, and he has the gen- 
 uine spirit of an artist in his choice of subject ; but I 
 would have wished that Johnson, Hennessey, or Ken- 
 sett might have been here also, to give us in enduring 
 colors scenes now passing awa}', which belong to the 
 history of the great da}' in which we live. 
 
 The most pathetic scenes occur upon our line of 
 march daily and hourly. Thousands of negro women 
 join the column, some carrying household goods, and 
 many of them carrying children in their arms, while 
 older boys and girls plod b}' their side. All these wo- 
 men and children are ordered back, heart-rending 
 though it may be to refuse them liberty. One begs 
 that she may go to see her husband and children at vSa- 
 vannah. Long 3'ears ago she was forced from him 
 and sold. Another has heard that her bo}' was in 
 Macon, and she is " done gone with grief goin' on four 
 years." 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 211 
 
 But the majorit}^ accept the advent of the Yankees as 
 the fulfihnent of the millennial prophecies. The " day 
 of jubilee," the hope and pra3'er of a lifetime, has come. 
 They cannot be made to understand that they must 
 remain behind, and the}^ are satisfied only when Gen- 
 eral Sherman tells them, as he does every day, that we 
 shall come back for them some time, and that they 
 must be patient until the proper hour of deliverance 
 arrives. 
 
 The other day a woman with a child in her arms was 
 working her way along among the teams and crowds of 
 cattle and horsemen. An officer called to her kindly, 
 " Where are joii going, aunty? " 
 
 She looked up into his face with a hopeful, beseech- 
 ing look, and replied, " I'se gwine whar j^ou'se gwine, 
 massa." — Capt. Nichols. 
 
 FORT McAllister. 
 
 About two p. M. w*e observed signs of commotion in 
 the fort, and noticed one or two guns fired inland, and 
 some musket-skirmishing in the woods close by. 
 
 This betokened the approach of Hazen's division, 
 which had been anxiously expected, and soon there- 
 after the signal officer discovered, about three miles 
 above the fort, a signal flag, with which he conversed, 
 and found it to belong to General Hazen, who was pre- 
 paring to assault the fort, and wanted to know if I were 
 there. On being assured of this fact, and that I expected 
 the fort to be carried before night, I received by signal 
 the assurance of General Hazen that he was making his 
 preparations, and would soon attempt the assault. The 
 sun was rapidly declining, and I was dreadfully impa- 
 tient. 
 
 At that yery moment some one discovered a faint 
 cloud of smoke, and an object gliding, as it were, along 
 the horizon above the tops of the sedge toward the sea, 
 which, little by httle, grew till it was pronounced to be 
 the smoke-stack of a steamer coming up the river. ' ' It 
 
212 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 must be one of our squadron ! " Soon the flag of the 
 United States was plainly visible, and our attention 
 was divided between this approaching steamer and the 
 expected assault. When the sun was about an hour 
 high, another signal message came from General Hazen 
 that he was all ready, and I replied to go ahead, as a 
 friendl}' steamer was approaching from below. Soon 
 we made out a group of officers on the deck of this ves- 
 sel, signaUing with a flag, " AVho are j'ou?" The an- 
 swer went back promptly, " General Sherman." Then 
 followed the question, "Is Fort McAllister taken ? " 
 " Not 3'et, but" it will be in a minute ! " Almost at that 
 instant of time, we saw llazen's troops come out of the 
 dark fringe of woods that encompassed the fort, the 
 lines dressed as on parade, with colors flying, and 
 moving forward with a quick steady pace. Fort Mc- 
 Allister was then all alive, its big guns belching forth 
 dense clouds of smoke, which soon enveloped our as- 
 saulting lines. One color went down, but was up in a 
 moment. On the lines advanced, faintl}' seen in the 
 white, sulphurous smoke ; there was a pause, a cessa- 
 tion of fire ; the smoke cleared away, and the parapets 
 were blue with our men, who fired their muskets in the 
 air, and shouted so that we actually heard them, or 
 felt that we did. Fort McAllister was taken, and the 
 good news was instantly sent b}- the signal officer to 
 our navy friends on the approaching gun-boat, for a 
 point of timber had shut out Fort McAllister from their 
 view; and they had not seen the action at all, but must 
 
 have heard the cannonading 
 
 The fort was an enclosed work, and its land front was 
 in the nature of a bastion and curtains, with good par- 
 apet, ditch, /raise, and chevaux-de-frise, made out of 
 the large branches of live-oaks. Luckil}^, the Rebels 
 had left the larger and unwield}" trunks on the ground, 
 ■which served as a good cover for the skirmish line, 
 which crept behind these logs, and from them kept the 
 artillerists from loading and firing their guns accu- 
 rately. 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 213 
 
 The assault had been made by three parties in line, 
 one from below, one from above the fort, and the third 
 direct^ in rear, along the capital. All were simulta- 
 neous, and had to pass a good abatis and line of tor- 
 pedoes, which actually killed more of the assailants 
 than the heavy guns of the fort, which generall}' over- 
 shot the mark. Hazen's entire loss was reported, killed 
 and wounded, ninety-two. Each party reached the 
 parapet about the same time, and the garrison inside, 
 of about two hundred and fifty men (about fifty of 
 them killed or wounded) , were in his power. — Gen. 
 Sherman. 
 
 December l^th. — Fort McAllister is ours. It has 
 been gallantly and bravely won. I saw the heroic 
 assault from the point of observation selected by Gen- 
 eral Sherman at the adjacent rice-mill. 
 
 During the greater part of to-day the General gazed 
 anxioush' toward the sea, watching for the appearance 
 of the fleet. About the middle of the afternoon he 
 descried a light column of smoke creeping lazil}' along 
 over the flat marshes, and soon the spars of a steamer 
 were visible, and then the flag of our Union floated out. 
 What a thrilling, joyfal sight ! How the blood bounded, 
 when, answering the signal waved above us, we saw 
 that the brave tars had recognized us, and knew that 
 our General was here with his army ! 
 
 The sun was now fast going down behind a grove of 
 water-oaks, and as his last rays gilded the earth, all eyes 
 once more turned toward the Rebel fort. Suddenly 
 white puff's of smoke shot out from the thick woods 
 surrounding the line of works. Hazen was closing in, 
 ready for the final rush of his column directly upon the 
 fort. A warning answer came from the eneni}^ in the 
 roar of heavy artillery, — and so the battle opened. 
 
 General Sherman walked nervously to and fro, turn- 
 ing quickh^ now and then from viewing the scene of 
 conflict to observe the sun sinking slowly behind the 
 tree-tops. No longer wiUing to bear the suspense, he 
 
214 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 said, " Signal General Hazen that he must caiTv the 
 fort b}' assault, to-night, if possible." 
 
 The little flag waved and fluttered in the evening air, 
 and the answer came, " I am readj-^, and will assault at 
 once ! " 
 
 The w^ords had hardl}^ passed when from out the 
 encircling woods there came a long line of blue coats 
 and bright bayonets, and the dear old flag was there, 
 waving proudly in the breeze. Then the fort seemed 
 alive with flame ; quick, thick jets of fire shooting out 
 from all its sides, while the white smoke first covered 
 the place and then rolled away over the glacis. The 
 line of blue moved steadilj' on ; too slow ly, as it seemed 
 to us, for we exclaimed, " Why don't they dash for- 
 ward ? " but their measured step was unfaltering. Now 
 the flag goes down, but the line does not halt. A 
 moment longer, and the banner gleams again in the 
 front. We, the lookers-on, clutched one another's arms 
 convulsively, and scared}^ breathed in the eager inten- 
 sity of our gaze. Sherman stood watching with anx- 
 ious air, awaiting the decisive moment. Then the 
 enem3''s fire redoubled in rapidity and violence. The 
 darting streams of fire alone told the position of the 
 fort. The line of blue entered the enshrouding folds of 
 smoke. The flag w^as at last diml}^ seen, and then it 
 went out of sight altogether. 
 
 " The}' have been repulsed ! " said one of the group 
 of oflScers avIio watched the fight. 
 
 '* No, b}' heaven ! " said another; "there is not a 
 man in retreat, — not a straggler in all the glorious 
 line ! " 
 
 The firing ceased. The wind lifted the smoke. 
 Crowds of men were visible on the parapets, fiercely 
 fighting, — but our flag was planted there. There 
 were a few scattering musket-shots, and then the sounds 
 of battle ceased. Then the bomb-proofs and parapets 
 were alive with crowding swarms of our gallant men, 
 who fired their pieces in the air for a feu de jote. — 
 Capt. Nichols. 
 
SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH. 215 
 
 SAVANNAH. 
 
 An incident connected with our occupation of Sa- 
 vannah illustrates the watchfulness and daring of our 
 officers and soldiers. Colonel Barnum, of New York, 
 commanding a brigade in the Twentieth Corps, a brave 
 soldier, who bears scars and unhealed wounds from 
 nianj'' a battle-field, was in command in the immediate 
 front upon our extreme left, and near midnight crept 
 out beyond his picket lines, which were only three hun- 
 dred 3'ards from the Rebel works. Not hearing the 
 voices of the enem}^, and not seeing their forms pass- 
 ing before their camp-fires, he suspected that the}^ had 
 evacuated their lines, notwithstanding he could hear 
 the boom of their guns, which echoed through the dark 
 forests away off to the right. He selected ten of his 
 best men, and cautiously scaled the parapets of the 
 outside Rebel line ; passing rapidly and silently from 
 these to the fortifications from whose bastions frowned 
 the black muzzles of ponderous sixt3'-four-pounders. 
 Although their camp-fires still burned brightty, no 
 Rebels. were to be seen. Sending back for reinforce- 
 ments, he marched from earth- work to earth-work, and 
 finally entered the city just as the early morning light 
 appeared in the eastern horizon ; while the forms of the 
 retreating enemy could be seen flying into the gray 
 mist across the marshes on the other side of the river. 
 — Capt. Nichols. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NASHVILLE. 
 
 "VrOU remember how it tells, in the last chap- 
 -^ ter, that Sherman sent a couple of corps up 
 to Thomas, at Nashville, and how he trusted to 
 Thomas to keep Hood away from his own rear. 
 This chapter is to show how Thomas attacked 
 Hood in his lines before Nashville, and drove him, 
 broken and defeated, beyond the Tennessee. 
 
 GEN. GRANT DESCRIBES THE CAMPAIGN IN -BRIEF. 
 
 Hood, instead of following Sherman, continued his 
 move northward, which seemed to me to be leadhig 
 to his certain doom. At all events, had I had the 
 power to command both armies, I should not have 
 changed the orders under which he seemed to be act- 
 ing. On the 24th of October, the advance of Hood's 
 army attacked the garrison at Decatur, Ala., but, fail- 
 ing to carr}' the place, withdrew toward Courtland, and 
 succeeded, in the face of our cavalry, in effecting a 
 lodgment on the north side of the Tennessee River, 
 near Florence. On the 28th, Forrest reached the 
 Tennessee, at Fort Hieman, and captured a gun-boat 
 and three transports. On the 2d of November, he 
 planted batteries above and below Johnsonville, on 
 the opposite side of the river, isolating three gun- 
 boats and eight transports. On the 4th, the enemy 
 
NASHVILLE. 217 
 
 opened his batteries upon the place, and was repHed to 
 from the gun-boats and the garrison. The gun-boats, 
 becoming disabled, were set on fire, as also were the 
 transports, to prevent their falling into the hands of 
 the eneni}'. About a million and a half dollars' worth 
 of stores and propert}', on the levee and in storehouses, 
 was consumed b}- fire. On the 5th, the enemy dis- 
 appeared and crossed to the north side of the Tennes- 
 see River, above Johnsonville, moving toward Clifton, 
 and subsequently joined Hood. On the night of the 
 5th, General Schofield, with the advance of the Twent}'- 
 third Corps, reached Johnsonville, but, finding the 
 enem}^ gone, was ordered to Pulaski, and put in com- 
 mand of all the troops there, with instructions to watch 
 the movements of Hood, and retard his advance, but 
 not to risk a general engagement until the arrival of 
 General A. J. vSmith's cominand from Missouri, and 
 until General Wilson could get his cavahy remounted. 
 On the 19th, General Hood continued his advance. 
 General Thomas, retarding him as mnch as possible, 
 fell back toward Nashville for the purpose of concen- 
 ti'ating his command, and gaining time for the arrival 
 of reinforcements. The enemy coming up with our 
 main force, commanded by General Schofield, at Frank- 
 lin, on the 30th, assaulted our works repeatedl}^ during 
 the afternoon until late at night, but were in every in- 
 stance repulsed. His loss in this battle was 1,750 
 killed, 702 prisoners, and 3,800 wounded. Among 
 his losses were six general officers killed, six wounded, 
 and one captured. Our entire loss was 2,300. This 
 was the first serious opposition the enenw met with, 
 and, I am satisfied, was the fatal blow to all his ex- 
 pectations. During the night. General Schofield fell 
 back toward Nashville. This left the field to the 
 enemy, — not lost by the battle, but voluntarily aban- 
 doned, — so that General Thomas's whole force might 
 be brought together. The eneni}' followed up, and 
 commenced the establishment of his line in front of 
 Nashville on the 2d of December. 
 
218 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 As soon as it was ascertained that Hood was cross- 
 ing the Tennessee River, and that Price was going out 
 of Missouri, General Kosecrans was ordered to send 
 to General Thomas the troops of General A. J. Smith's 
 command and such other troops as he could spare. 
 The advance of this reinforcement reached Nashville 
 on the 30th of November. 
 
 On the morning of the loth of December General 
 Thomas attacked Hood in posifion, and, in a battle 
 lasting two days, defeated and drove him from the field 
 in the utmost confusion, leaving in our hands most of 
 his artillery and many thousand prisoners, including 
 four general officers. 
 
 Before the battle of Nashville, I grew very impatient 
 over, as it appeared to me, the unnecessary delay. 
 This impatience was increased upon learning that the 
 enemy had sent a force of cavalry across the Cumber- 
 land into Kentucky. I feared Hood would cross his 
 whole arm}^ and give us great trouble there. After 
 urging upon General Thomas the necessity of immedi- 
 ately assuming the offensive, I started West to super- 
 intend matters there in person. Reaching Washington 
 City, I received General Thomas's despatch announcing 
 his attack upon the enemy, and the result as far as the 
 battle had progressed. I was delighted. All fears and 
 apprehensions were dispelled. I am not yet satisfied 
 but that General Thomas, immediately upon the appear- 
 ance of Hood before Nashville, and before he had time 
 to fortify, should have moved out with his whole force 
 and given him battle, instead of waiting to remount his 
 cavalry, which delayed him until the inclemency of the 
 weather made it impracticable to attack earlier than he 
 did. But his final defeat of Hood was so complete, 
 that it will be accepted as a vindication of that distin- 
 guished officer's judgment. — Gen. Grant. 
 
 As Hood was marching north from Florence, 
 Schofield was also marching from Pulaski, and 
 
NASHVILLE. 219 
 
 there was some question which would first reach 
 Franklin, where their roads converged. At one 
 time, Hood was ahead, and would have cut Scho- 
 field off from Nashville, had not Schofield, by a 
 brilliant night march, with all his trains and his 
 whole army, passed within half a mile of Hood's 
 camp without arousing him. The next morning 
 he woke to find Schofield intrenched in front of 
 him, ready to repulse his whole army in the battle 
 of Franklin. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE. 
 
 On the morning of the 15th of December, the weather 
 being favorable, the army was formed and ready at an 
 early hour to carry out the plan of battle promulgated 
 in the Special Field Order of the 14th. The for- 
 mation of the troops was partially concealed from the 
 enemy by the l)roken nature of the ground, as also by a 
 dense fog, which only lifted toward noon. The enemy 
 was apparentl}' totalh' unaware of any intention on our 
 part to attack his position, and more especiall}' did he 
 seem not to expect an}' movement against his left flank. 
 To divert his attention still further from our real inten- 
 tions, Major-General Steedman had, on the evening of 
 the 14th, received orders to make a heav}' demonstra- 
 tion with his command against the enemy's right, east 
 of the Nolensville pike, which he accomplished with 
 great success, and some loss, succeeding, however, in 
 attracting the enemy's attention to that part of his line 
 and inducing him to draw reinforcements from toward 
 his centre and left. 
 
 THE MAIN ATTACK BY OUE LEFT. 
 
 As soon as General Steedman had completed his * 
 movement the commands of Generals Smith and Wil- 
 
220 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 son moved out along the Harding pike, and commenced 
 the grand movement of the da}' by wheeling to the left 
 and advancing against the enemy's position across the 
 Harding and Hillsboro' pikes. A division of cavalry 
 (Johnson's) was sent at the same time to look after a 
 battery of the enemy's on the Cumberland River at Bell's 
 Landing, eight miles below Nashville. General Johnson 
 did not get into position until late in the afternoon, when, 
 in conjunction with the gun-boats under Lieut. -Com- 
 mander Le Roy Fitch, the enemy's battery was engaged 
 until after nightfall, and the place was found evacuated 
 in the morning. The remainder of General Wilson's 
 command. Hatch's division leading and Knipe in re- 
 serve, moving on the right of General A. J. Smith's 
 troops, first struck the enemj^ along Richland Creek, 
 near Harding's house, and drove him back rapidly, cap- 
 turing a number of prisoners, wagons, &c., and, con- 
 tinuing to advance, while slightl}' swinging to the left, 
 came upon a redoubt containing four guns, which was 
 splendidly carried by assault, at one p. m., by a portion 
 of Hatch's division, dismounted, and the captured guns 
 turned upon the enem}'. A second redoubt, stronger 
 than the first, was next assailed and carried b}' the same 
 troops that captured the first position, taking four more 
 guns and about three hundred prisoners. The infantrj^, 
 McArthur's division of General A. J. Smith's command, 
 on the left of the cavalry, participated in both of the above 
 assaults, and indeed the dismounted cavahy seemed to 
 vie with the infantry who should first gain the works ; 
 as the}' reached the position nearl}' simultaneous!}', both 
 lay claim to the artillery and prisoners captured. 
 
 Finding General Smith had not taken as much dis- 
 tance to the right as I expected he would have done, I 
 directed General Schofield to move his command (the 
 Twenty-third Corps) from the position in reserve to 
 which it had been assigned over to the right of General 
 Smith, enabling the cavalry thereby to operate more 
 freely in the enemy's rear. This was rapidly accom- 
 plished by General Schofield, and his troops participated 
 in the closing operations of the day. 
 
NASHVILLE. 221 
 
 THE CENTRE. 
 
 The Fourth Corps, Brig. -Gen. T. J. Wood command- 
 ing, formed on the left of General A. J. Smith's com- 
 mand, and, as soon as the latter had struck the enemy's 
 flank, assaulted the Montgomery Hill, Hood's most ad- 
 vanced position, at one p. m. The assault was most gal- 
 lantly- executed by the Third Brigade, Second Division, 
 Colonel P. Sidne}- Post, Fifty-ninth Illinois, command- 
 ing, capturing a considerable number of prisoners. 
 Connecting with the left of Smith's troops (Brigadier- 
 General Garrard's division), the Fourth Corps continued 
 to advance, and carried the enemy's entire line in its 
 front by assault, and captured several pieces of artillery^ , 
 about five hundred prisoners, some stands of colors, and 
 other material. The enemy- was driven out of his origi- 
 nal line of works and forced back to a new position along 
 the base of Harpeth Hills, still holding his line of retreat 
 to Franklin b}- the main pike through Brentwood and 
 by the Granny White pike. Our line at nightfall was re- 
 adjusted, running parallel to and east of the Hillsboro' 
 pike, — Schofield's command on the right. Smith's in the 
 centre, and Wood's on the left, with the cavahy on the 
 right of Schofield, — Steedman holding the position he 
 had gained early in the morning. 
 
 The total result of the day's operations was the cap- 
 ture of sixteen pieces of artillery and 1,200 prisoners, 
 besides several hnndred stand of small arms and about 
 fort}- wagons. The enemy had been forced back at all 
 j.oints with heav3-loss, and our casualties were unusually 
 light. The behavior of the -troops was unsurpassed for 
 steadiness and alacrit}- in everj^ movement, and the 
 original plan of battle, with but few alterations, strictly 
 adhered to. 
 
 The whole command bivouacked in line of battle 
 during the night on the ground occupied at dark, while 
 preparations were made to renew the battle at an early 
 hour on the morrow. 
 
STORII^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 At six A. M., on the 16th, Wodd's corps pressed 
 back the enem3''s skirmishers across the Frankhii pike 
 to the eastward of it, and then, swinging slightly to the 
 right, advanced due south from Nashville, driving the 
 enem}' before him until he came upon his new main line 
 of works, constructed during the night, on what is called 
 Overton's Hill, about live miles south of the citj- and 
 east of the Franklin pike. General Steedman moved 
 out from Nashville by the Nolensville pike, and formed 
 his command on the left of General AVood, elfectually 
 securing the latter's left flank, and made preparations 
 to co-operate in the operations of the day. General A. 
 J. Smith's command moved on the right of the Fourth 
 Corps (Wood's) , and, establishing connection with Gen- 
 eral Wood's right, completed the new line of battle. 
 General Schotield's troops remained in the position 
 taken up by them at dark on the da}' previous, facing 
 eastward and toward the enemy's left flank, the line 
 of the corps running perpendicular to General Smith's 
 troops. General AVilson's cavalry, which had rested for 
 the night at the six-mile post on the Hillsboro' pike, 
 was dismounted and formed on the right of Schotield's 
 command, and b}' noon of the 16th had succeeded in 
 gaining the enem3''s rear, and stretched across the 
 Granny AVhite pike, one of his two outlets toward 
 Franklin. 
 
 As soon as the above dispositions were completed, 
 and having visited the different commands, I gave 
 directions that the movement against the enemy's left 
 flank should be continued. Our entire line approached 
 to within six hundred yards of the enen^v's at all points. 
 His centre was weak as compared with either his right, 
 at Overton's Hill, or his left, on the hills bordering the 
 Grann}^ White pike ; still I had hopes of gaining his 
 rear and cutting off his retreat from Franklin. 
 
 About three p. m. Post's brigade of Wood's Corps, 
 supported by Streight's brigade of the same command, 
 
NASHVILLE. 223 
 
 was ordered b}^ General Wood to assault Overton's Hill. 
 This intention was communicated to General Steedman, 
 who ordered the brigade of colored troops commanded 
 b}' Colonel Morgan (Fourteenth United States colored 
 troops) to co-operate in the movement. The ground 
 on which the two assaulting columns formed being open 
 and exposed to the enemy's view, he, readil}' perceiving 
 our intention, drew reinforcements from his left and 
 centre to the threatened point. This movement of 
 troops on the part of the enemy was communicated 
 along the line from left to right. 
 
 The assault was made, and received by the enemy 
 with a tremendous fire of grape, canister, and mus- 
 ketry, our men moving steadih' onward up the hill until 
 near the crest, when the reserves of the enemy rose and 
 poured into the assaulting column a most destructive 
 fire, causing the men first to waver and then to fall 
 back, leaving their dead and wounded — black and 
 white indiscriminately mingled — lying amid the abatis, 
 the gallant Colonel Post among the wounded. General 
 Wood readily re-formed his command in the position 
 it had previously occupied, preparatory to a renewal 
 of the assault. 
 
 THE THIRD SUCCESS. 
 
 Immediatel}^ following the eflfort of the Fourth Corps, 
 Generals Smith's and Schofield's commands moved 
 against the enemy's works in their respective fronts, 
 carrj'ing all before them, irreparabl}" breaking his lines 
 in a dozen places, and capturing all of his artillerj' and 
 thousands of prisoners, among the latter four general 
 officers. Our loss was remarkably small, scarcel}' men- 
 tionable. All of the eneni}' that did escape were pui'- 
 sued over the tops of Brentwood or Harpeth Hills. 
 
 General Wilson's cavalry, dismounted, attacked the 
 enem}^ simultaneously with Schofield and Smith, strik- 
 ing him in reverse, and, gaining firm possession of the 
 Granny White pike, cut off his retreat by that route. 
 
'^ 
 
 224 STORIED TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 THE ROUT. 
 
 Wood's and Steedman's troops hearing the shouts 
 of victoiy coming from the right, rushed impetuously 
 forward, renewing the assault on Overton's Hill, and, 
 although meeting a verj" heavy fire, the onset was irre- 
 sistible, artiller}' and innumerable prisoners falling into 
 our hands. The enem}', hopelessh' broken, fled in con- 
 fusion through the Brentwood pass, the Fourth Corps in 
 a close pursuit, which w^as continued for several miles, 
 ■when darkness closed the scene and the troops rested 
 from their labors. 
 
 As the Fourth Corps pursued the enemy on the 
 Franklin pike. General Wilson hastily mounted Knipe's 
 and Hatch's division of his command, and directed them 
 to pursue along the Granny White pike and endeavor 
 to reach Franklin in advance of the enem3\ After pro- 
 ceeding about a mile they came upon the eneniN^'s cav- 
 ahy under Chalmers, posted across the road and behind 
 barricades. The position was charged by the Twelfth 
 Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel Spalding commanding, and 
 the enemy's lines broken, scattering him in all direc- 
 tions, and capturing quite a number of prisoners, among 
 them Brig. -Gen. E. W. Rucker. 
 
 During the two days' operations there were 4,462 
 prisoners captured, including 287 officers of all grades 
 from that of major-general, fifty-three pieces of artil- 
 lery, and thousands of small arms. The enem}' aban- 
 doned on the. field all of his dead and wounded. 
 
 Leaving directions for the collection of the captured 
 property, and for the care of the wounded left on the 
 battle-field, the pursuit was continued at daylight on 
 the 17th. The Fourth Corps pushed on toward Frank- 
 lin bj' the direct pike, w^hile the cavalry moved b}' the 
 Granny White Pike to its intersection with the Frank- 
 lin pike, and then took the advance. 
 
NASHVILLE. 225 
 
 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 Johnson's division of cavalry was sent b}' General 
 "Wilson direct to Harpeth River, on the Hillsboro' pike, 
 with directions to cross and move rapidly toward Frank- 
 lin. The main cavahy column, with Knipe's division in 
 advance, came up with the enem^^'s rear-guard strongly 
 posted at Hollow Tree Gap, four miles north of Frank- 
 lin ; the position was charged in front and in flank 
 simultan'eousl}', and handsomel}^ carried, capturing four 
 hundred and thirteen prisoners and three colors. The 
 enemy then fell back rapidl}' to Franklin, and endeav- 
 ored to defend the crossing of Harpeth Elver at that 
 place ; but Johnson's division, coming up from below on 
 the south side of the stream, forced him to retire from 
 the river- bank, and our cavalry took possession of the 
 town, capturing the enem3''s hospitals, containing over 
 two thousand wounded, of whom about two hundred 
 were our own men. — Maj.-Gen. Thomas. 
 
 15 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SIEGE OF RICHMOND.— THE LAST WEEK. 
 
 A FTER General Grant had crossed the James 
 -^■^ River and united his army with General But- 
 ler's, in the summer of 1864, he spent the rest of 
 that year and the months of winter in closer and 
 closer approaches upon Richmond and Petersburg. 
 These two cities were united by a railroad, so that 
 they supported each other; and the hardest fight- 
 ing done was, in fact, before Petersburg. The 
 whole effort, however, was popularly called "the 
 Siege of Richmond," though Richmond was never 
 besieged. It always drew provisions from the 
 west by the .Southside Railroad, and other roads 
 through the valley of James River. 
 
 The lines of the Union army and those of the 
 Rebels at Petersburg came closer and closer. In 
 many bloody battles. Grant pushed his left wing 
 farther and farther to the west, cutting off the 
 line of the Weldon Railroad. The deep quagmires 
 which are called roads in Virginia, as in so many 
 years before, defended her capital so long as winter 
 lasted. But with the opening of spring the end 
 
SIEGE OF RICHMOND. 227 
 
 came. It was all like the arrangement by which 
 a great player finishes a game at chess. 
 
 On the 24th of March, General Grant issued his 
 orders, without any " ifs " or "perhapses," for the 
 '^ general movement," They were addressed to 
 General Meade, General Ord, and General Sheri- 
 dan. They began, — " Generals, on the 29th in- 
 stant, the armies operating against Richmond will 
 be moved by our left, for the double purpose of 
 turning the enemy out of his present position 
 around Petersburg, and to insure the success of 
 the cavalry, under General Sheridan, which will 
 start at the same time in its efforts to reach and 
 destroy the Southside and Danville railroads." 
 
 These are just such rules as a head of a family 
 might give about a "moving," — that this cart 
 should come at this time, that cart at another, and 
 such and such a boy be ready at the new house to 
 tell where the furniture should go. There is just 
 that confidence that what is ordered will be done. 
 
 General Grant's report of the result shall be 
 copied first. 
 
 THE ARMY MARCHES. 
 
 I had spent da3's of anxiety lest each morning should 
 bring the report that the enemy had retreated the night 
 before. I was firmh" convinced that Sherman's crossing 
 the Roanoke would be the signal for Lee to leave. With 
 Johnston and him combined, a long, tedious and expen- 
 sive campaign, consuming most of the summer, might 
 become necessarj'. By moving out I would put the 
 
228 
 
 STORIE^^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 army in better condition for pursuit, and would at least, 
 b}' the destruction of the Danville road, retard the con- 
 centration of the two armies of Lee and Johnston, and 
 cause the enem}' to abandon much material that he 
 might otherwise save. I therefore determined not to 
 delay the movement ordered. 
 
 oil the night of the 27th, Major-General Ord, with two 
 divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps, Major-General 
 Gibbon commanding, and one division of the Twenty- 
 fifth Corps, Brigadier-General Birney commanding, and 
 McKenzie's cavalry, took up his line of march in pursu- 
 ance of the foregoing instructions, and reached the posi- 
 tion assigned him near Hatcher's Run on the morning 
 of the 29th. On the 28th, the following instructions 
 were given to General Sheridan : — 
 
 City Point, Va., March 28, 1865. 
 
 General: — The Fifth Ariny Corps will move by the Vaiif^hn 
 road at 8 a. m. to-morrow morning. The Second moves at al)out 
 9 A. Ji. having but about tliree miles to march to reach the point des- 
 ignated for it to take on tlie riglit of the Fifth Corps, after the latter 
 reaciiing Dinwiddie Court- 1 louse. Move your cavalry at as early 
 an hour as you cnn, and witliout being confined to any particular 
 road or roads. You may go out by tiie nearest roads in rear of 
 the Fifth Corps, pass by ils left, and, passing near to or tlirough 
 Dinwiddie, reacli the right and rear of tlie enemy as soon as you 
 can. It is not tlie intention to attack the enemy in his intrenched 
 position, but to force him out, if possible. Should he come out 
 and attack us, or get himself where he can be attacked, move in 
 with your entire force in your own way, and with the full reliance 
 that tlie army will engage or follow, as circumstances will dictate. 
 I shall be on the fi(dd, and will probably be able to communicate 
 with you. Should I not do st), and you find that the enemy keeps 
 within his main intrenched line, you may cut loose and push for 
 the Danville road. If you find it practicable, I woidd like you to 
 cross the Southside road, between Petersburg and Burkesville, 
 and destroy it to some extent. I would not advise much deten- 
 tion, however, until you reach the Danville road, which I would 
 like you to strike as near to the Appomattox as ])ossible. Make 
 your destruction on that road as complete as possible. You can 
 then pass on to the Southside road, west of Burkesville, and de- 
 stro}' that, in like manner. 
 
 After having accomplished the destruction of the two railroads, 
 •which are now the only avenues of supply to Lee's army, you may 
 return to this army, selecting your road further south, or you may 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 229 
 
 go on into North Carolina and join General Sherman. Should you 
 select the latter course, get the information to me as early as 
 possible, so that I may send orders to meet you at Goldsboro'. 
 
 U. S. Grant, Lieut.- Gen. 
 Maj.-Gen. p. H. Sheridan. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th, the movement commenced. 
 At night tiie cavaliy was at Dinwiddie Conrt-Hoiise, and 
 the left of our infantiy line extended to the Quaker road, 
 near its intersection with the Boydton plank-road. The 
 position of the troops from left to right was as follows : 
 Sheridan, Warren, Humphreys, Ord, Wright, Parke. 
 
 Ever3"tliing looked favorable to the defeat of the 
 enemy and the capture of Petersburg and Richmond, 
 if the proper effort was made. I therefore addressed 
 the following communication to General Sheridan, hav- 
 ing previousl}' informed him verbally not to cut loose 
 for the raid contemplated in his orders until he received 
 notice from me to do so : 
 
 Gravelly Creek, March 29, 1865. 
 
 General : — Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to 
 Dinwiddie. We are all ready, however, to give up all, from the 
 Jerusalem plank-road to Hatcher's Run, whenever the forces can 
 be used advantageously. After getting into line soutli of llatclier's 
 we pusli forward to find the enemy's position. General Griffin 
 was attacked near where tlie Quaker road intersects the Boydton 
 road, but repulsed it easily, capturing about one hundred men. 
 Humphreys reached Dabney's INIill, and was pushing on when last 
 heard from. 
 
 I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before 
 going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after 
 the enemy's roads at present. In the morning push around the 
 enemy, if you can, and get on to his right rear. The movements 
 of the enemy's cavalry may, of course, modify your action. We 
 will act all together as one army liere until it is seen wiiat can be 
 done with the enemy. The signal officer at Cobb's Hill reported, 
 at 11.30 a. ji., that a cavalry column had passed that point from 
 Richmond towards Petersburg, taking forty minutes to pass. 
 
 U. S. Grant, Lieut.- Gen. 
 Maj.-Gen. P. H. Sheridan. 
 
 From the night of the 29 th to the morning of the 31st 
 the rain fell in such torrents as to make it impossible to 
 move a wheeled vehicle, except as corduro}^ roads were 
 
230 STORIES Wold by soldiers. 
 
 laid in front of them. During the 30th, Sheridan ad- 
 vanced from Dinwiddie Court-llouse toward Five Forks, 
 where he found the enen\y in force. General Warren 
 advanced and extended his line across the Boydton plank- 
 road to near the White Oak road, with a view of getting 
 across the latter ; but finding the enemy strong .in his 
 front, and extending beyond his left, was directed to hold 
 on where he was and fortif}'. General Humphreys 
 drove the enemy from his front into his main line on the 
 Hatcher, near Burgess's mills. Generals Ord, Wright, 
 and Parke made examinations in their fronts to deter- 
 mine the feasibility of an assault on the enem3''s lines. 
 The two latter reported favorabh\ The enemy con- 
 fronting us, as he did at every point from Richmond to 
 our extreme left, 1 conceived his lines must be weakly 
 held, and cmild be penetrated if ni}' estimate of his 
 forces was correct. I determined, therefore, to extend 
 my line no further, but to reinforce General Sheridan 
 with a corps of infantr}', and thus enable him to cut 
 loose and turn the enem3''s right flank, and with the 
 other corps assault the enemy's lines. The result of 
 the offensive effort of the enem}'- the week before, when 
 he assaulted Fort Steadman, particularly favored this. 
 The enemy's intrenched picket line, captured b}' us at 
 that time, threw the lines occupied by the belligerents so 
 close together at some points, that it was but a moment's 
 run from one to the other. Preparations were at once 
 made to relieve General Humphreys's corps, to report to 
 General Sheridan ; but the condition of the roads pre- 
 vented immediate movement. On the morning of the 
 31st General Warren reported favorably- to getting pos- 
 session of the White Oak road, and was directed to do 
 so. To accomplish this he moved with one division, 
 instead of his whole corps, which was attacked b}' the 
 enemy in superior force, and driven back on the second 
 division, before it had time to form, and it, in turn, 
 forced back upon the third division, when the enemy 
 was checked. A division of the Second Corps was im- 
 mediately sent to his support, the enemy driven back 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 231 
 
 with heavy loss, and possession of White Oak road 
 gained. Sheridan advanced, and with a portion of his 
 cavahygot possession of the Five Forks, but the enen\y, 
 after the affair with the Fifth Corps, reinforced the Rebel 
 cavahy, defending that point with infantr}^, and forced 
 him back toward Dinwiddle Court-House. Here Gen- 
 eral Sheridan displayed great generalship. Instead of 
 retreating with his whole command on the main army, to 
 tell the storj' of superior forces encountered, he deployed 
 his cavalry on foot, leaving onh^ mounted men enough to 
 take charge of the horses. This compelled the eneni}- to 
 deploy over a vast extent of woods and broken country, 
 and made his progress slow. At this juncture he de- 
 spatched to me what had taken place, and that he was 
 dropping back slowly on DiuAviddie Court-House. Gen- 
 eral McKenzie's cavalry and one division of the Fifth 
 Corps were immediatel}' ordered to his assistance. Soon 
 after, receiving a report from General Meade that Hum- 
 phreys could hold our position on the Boydton road, and 
 that the other two divisions of the Fifth Corps could go 
 to Sheridan, tliej^ were so ordered at once. Thus the 
 operations of the daj' necessitated the sending of War- 
 ren because of his accessibilit}', instead of Humphre3^s, 
 as was intended, and precipitated intended movements. 
 On the morning of the 1st of April, General Sheridan, 
 reinforced by General Warren, drove the enemy back 
 on Five Forks, where, late in the evening, he assaulted 
 and carried his strongh' fortified position, capturing all 
 his artiller}^ and between five and six thousand prisoners. 
 About the close of this battle. Brevet Major-General 
 Charles Griffin relieved Major-General Warren in com- 
 mand of the Fifth Corps. The report of this reached 
 me after nightfall. Some apprehensions filled my mind 
 lest the enem}' might desert his lines during the night, 
 and, by falKng upon General Sheridan before assistance 
 could reach him, drive him from his position, and open 
 the way for retreat. To guard against this. General 
 Miles's division of Humphreys's Corps was sent to rein- 
 force him, and a bombardment was commenced and kept 
 
232 STORIES ^LD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 up until four o'clock in the morning (April 2), when 
 an assault was ordered on the eneni} 's lines. General 
 Wright penetrated the lines with his whole corps, sweep- 
 ing ever3thing before him and to his left toward Hatch- 
 er's Run, capturing man}' guns and several thousand 
 l^risoners. He was closeh' followed b}' two divisions of 
 General Ord's command, until he met the other division 
 of General Ord's that had succeeded in forcing the ene- 
 my's lines near Hatcher's Run. Generals Wright and 
 Ord inunediatel}' swung to the right, and closed all the 
 enemy on that side of them in Petersburg, while Gen- 
 eral Humphre3'S pushed forward with two divisions and 
 joined General Wright on the left. General Parke suc- 
 ceeded in carrying the enemy's main line, capturing guns 
 and prisoners, but was unable to cany his inner line. 
 General Sheridan, being advised of the condition of 
 affairs, returned General Miles to his })roper command. 
 On reaching the enem3-'s lines immediately surrounding 
 Petersburg, a portion of General Gibbon's corps, by 
 a most gallant charge, captured two strong, enclosed 
 works, — the most salient and commanding south of 
 Petersburg, — thus materialh' shortening the line of in- 
 vestment necessary for taking the city. The enemy, 
 south of Hatcher's Run retreated westward to Suther- 
 land's Station, where they were overtaken by Miles's di- 
 vision. A severe engagement ensued, and lasted until 
 both his right and left flanks were threatened b^' the 
 approach of General Sheridan, who was moving from 
 Ford's Station toward Petersburg, and a division sent 
 by General Meade from the front of Petersburg, when 
 he broke in the utmost confusion, leaving in our hands 
 his guns and many prisoners. This force retreated by 
 the main road along the Appomattox River. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF LEE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 During the night of the 2d the enem}^ evacuated 
 Petersburg and Richmond, and retreated toward Dan- 
 ville. On the morning of the- 3d, pursuit was com- 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 233 
 
 menced. General Sheridan pushed for the Danville 
 road, keeping near the Appomattox, followed hy Gen- 
 eral Meade with the Second and Sixth Corps, while 
 General Ord moved from Burkesville along the South- 
 side road ; the Ninth Corps stretched along that road 
 behind him. On the 4th, General Sheridan struck the 
 Danville road near Jettersville, where he learned that 
 Lee was at Amelia Court-House. He immediatel}' in- 
 trenched himself and awaited the arrival of General 
 Meade, who reached there the next day. General Ord 
 reached Burkesville on the evening of the 5th. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th I addressed Major-Gen. 
 Sherman the following communication : — 
 
 Wilson's Station, April 5, 1865. 
 General: — All indications now are that Lee will attempt to 
 reach Danville with the remnant of his force. Sheridan, who , 
 ■was up with him last night, reports all that is left — horse, foot, 
 and dragoons — at twenty thousand, much demoralized. We 
 hope to reduce this number one half. I shall push on to Burkes- 
 ville, and, if a stand is made at Danville, will in a very few days 
 go tiiere. If j'ou can possibly do so, push on from where you are, 
 and let us see if we cannot finish the job with Lee's and John- 
 ston's armies. Whether it will be better for you to strike for 
 Greensboro' or nearer to Danville, you will he better able to 
 judge when you receive this. Rebel armies now are the only 
 strategic points to strike at. 
 
 U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General. 
 Maj.-Gen. W. T. Sherman. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th, it was found that General 
 Lee was moving w^est of Jettersville, toward Danville. 
 General Sheridan moved with his cavaliT, (the Fifth 
 Corps having been returned to General Meade on his 
 reaching Jettersville,) to strike his flank, followed by 
 the Sixth Corps, while the Second and Fifth Corps 
 pressed hard after, forcing him to abandon several 
 hundred wagons and several pieces of artilleiy. Gen- 
 eral Ord advanced from Burkesville toward Farmville, 
 sendhig two regiments of infantiy and a squadron of 
 cavalry, under Brevet Brig. -Gen. Theodore Read, to 
 reach and destroy the bridges. This advance met the 
 head of Lee's column near Farmville, which it hero- 
 
234 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 icall}^ attacked and detained until General Read was 
 killed and his small force overpowered. Tliis caused a 
 dela}^ in the enemy's movements, and enabled General 
 Ord to get well up with the remainder of his force, on 
 meeting which the enem}' immediately intrenched him- 
 self. In the afternoon General Sheridan struck the 
 enemy south of Sailor's Creek, captured sixteen pieces 
 of artillery, and about four hundred wagons, and de- 
 tained him until the Sixth Corps got up, when a gen- 
 eral attack of infantr}- and cavalry was made, which 
 resulted in the capture of six or seven thousand prison- 
 ers, among whom were man}^ general officers. The 
 movements of the Second Corps and General Ord's com- 
 mand contributed greatl}" to the daj^'s success. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th, the pursuit was renewed, 
 the cavalry, except one division, and the Fifth Corps 
 moving by Prince Edward Court-House ; the Sixth 
 Corps, General Ord's command, and one division of 
 cavalry, on Farmville ; and the Second Corps b}^ the 
 High Bridge road. It was soon found that the enemy 
 had crossed to the north side of the Appomattox ; but 
 so close was the pursuit that the Second Corps got 
 possession of the common bridge at High Bridge before 
 the enemy could destroy it, and immediatel}' crossed 
 over. The Sixth Corps and a division of cavalry 
 crossed at Farmville to its support. — Gen. Grant. 
 
 At this point it was so sure that the Rebel chief 
 was checkmated, that Grant addressed to him a 
 note, which resulted in the surrender at Appomattox 
 Court-House. 
 
 It was on the last day of this pursuit that Sheri- 
 dan telegraphed to Grant this despatch, which at 
 the time excited great attention : — 
 
 Lieutenant-General Grant : — 
 
 I have the honor to report that the enemy made a stand at the 
 intersection of the Burke's Station road, in the road upon which 
 they were retreating. 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 235 
 
 I attacked them with two divisions of the Sixth Army Corps, 
 and routed tliem handsomely, making a connection Avith the 
 cavalry. I am still pressing on with both cavalry and infantry. 
 Up to the present time we have captured General Ewell, Kershaw, 
 Button, Corse, De Barre, and Custis Lee, several thousand prison- 
 ers, I'om'teen pieces of artillery, with caissons and a large number 
 of prisoners. If the thing is pressed, I think Lee will surrender. 
 P. H. Sheridan, Major-General commanding. 
 City Point, April 7, —9 A. M. 
 
 It was always said, and probably truly, that the 
 answer was, " Press them." 
 
 Now that you have seen how the leader of the 
 whole host ordered the array, you shall read how 
 one of the accomplished men who make a part of 
 it sees the whole. The first extract describes the 
 assault on one of the forts at Petersburg, on tlie 2d 
 of April. The description which follows is from 
 one of the surgeons who go everywhere with an 
 army, and even remain on the field of defeat, if 
 need be, and are taken prisoners with the men for 
 whom they care. 
 
 STORMING A BATTERY. 
 
 "Battery Gregg," a strong earth-work, was immedi- 
 ately in front. It was ours to assault. Could we take 
 it, the Rebel line was untenable. 
 
 Our formation was in column by brigade, our own bri- 
 gade in advance. The order reached us at about eleven 
 o'clock on the 2d of April. Moving directly against 
 the work, a terrific fire of musketry and grape and can- 
 ister struck us in front, while shells from all the neigh- 
 boring works were directed against our flanks. " When 
 within one hundred yards of the w^ork," writes Captain 
 Leach, our gallant leader on that day, " we were obliged 
 
236 STORIES ^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 to lie clown, and crawl upon our hands and knees ; the 
 enem}' all the time pouring grape and canister into our 
 ranks at a furious rate." But not a man flinched, al- 
 though dead and dying comrades were 13'ing stretched 
 upon the ground. The ditch around the fort was 
 reached at last, and although the water in it stood -waist- 
 deep, the brave fellows hesitated not to jump in, and 
 scramble up the bank of the fort, vainl}^ attempting to 
 rush in e7i masse., and end the bloody struggle. Soon 
 the stars and stripes coukl be seen floating hy the side 
 of the Rebel flag ; cheer after cheer rent the air, — the 
 Rebels fighting with the desperation of madmen, and 
 shouting to each otlier,'" Never surrender! never sur- 
 render ! " For twenty-seven minutes we hung upon the 
 works, knowing we could not retreat if we wished to. 
 One more rush and we were inside the fort, and for a 
 minute or two there was a hand-to-hand contest. The 
 works were ours ; and the garrison, — dead and alive. 
 — Gen. Lincoln., Col. SAth Mass. 
 
 THE LAST WEEK. 
 
 As T overheard one enlisted man saj'ing to another, 
 down on the James, in '62, " When a man tells me all 
 about a battle, — what was done here, and what was 
 done there, — I know that he was n't in it. I have been 
 in a good many fights ; and I 've alwa^'s had enough to 
 do to take care of m3'self, without looking around at 
 what other people were doing." It is a piece of practi- 
 cal wisdom, that the war experience of ever}' one below 
 a certain grade will confirm. But, if every one should 
 faithfully describe his own square, how the checker- 
 board of a campaign might be reconstructed ! One 
 difficulty in ordinary description lies in the too general 
 impression, that one's own little block is the whole 
 board. At Chickamauga, a high-spirited son of a 
 prominent Confederate general, aUhough a mere boy, 
 held a nominal position on his father's staflT. He was 
 given charge of a Uttle mountain-howitzer during the 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 237 
 
 action, chiefl}' to keep him out of worse mischief. 
 When the da}^ was decided, he rode up exultant : 
 ' ' Did 3'ou hear the howitzer, father ? Did you hear the 
 howitzer, father? " We all are apt to believe that our 
 own httle howitzers are, or ought to be, heard above 
 the roar of the battle. Most of us look- upon our per- 
 sonal zenith as the celestial pole, around whose axis the 
 natural world revolves ; but bj' an aggregation of obser- 
 vations, true astronomical problems are wrought out. 
 A stereoscopic view is not to be seen with a single e^^e ; 
 a fraction is not the whole ; but the spatter of the little 
 piece is sometimes an epitome of the greater volle3's. If 
 bareh' one man in ten, in any battle, should, at its close, 
 faithfully note down his own experience, what a mag- 
 nificent mosaic might be put together ! We shall never 
 know the views of the subalterns in the retreat of the 
 Ten Thousand ; nor are there any Commentaries but the 
 commander's on the war in Gaul. But what would not 
 the world give for a gossipy journal b}^ the chief of some 
 S3'ntagma under Xenophon, or by some livel}' legionary 
 of Ciesar's ? Suppose that only the generals wrote of the 
 RebelKon : we should have abundance of grand strateg}', 
 but very little of the wayside bivouac. The prominent 
 colors would be staring enough ; but we should lose the 
 delicate shadings. 
 
 There are man}^ incidents of a march that are inter- 
 esting without being vital, — little touches that neither 
 make nor mar the picture. This fragment of mosaic is 
 contributed as such. 
 
 How glorious was that last week ! The Rebs may 
 have enjo3'ed it slenderl3- ; but we were filled with new 
 life then. The cruel suspense that, mist-like, had 
 enshrouded us during the final movement to the left, 
 was torn aside b3' Five Forks and the storming of 
 Petersburg. Lee was in retreat ; and we were in full 
 cry after him. It was a new and agreeable sensation. 
 More than once in former days we had retired from 
 before the Rebels. Now, it was a wilder chase than 
 ever ; and we were not in front. 
 
238 STORIES^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 As eveiybocl}' knows, the national forces marched in 
 two main columns. The Army of the Potomac, under 
 Meade, and the ubiquitous Sheridan with his centaurs, 
 were directl}' on the Rebel trail and right ; while Ord, 
 with the Army of the James, marched on their left 
 flank along the Lynchburg Railroad, — a moving wall 
 to resist their turning southward. Ord's first objective 
 was Burkesville Junction, to cut ol!"the use of the Dan- 
 ville Railroad, upon which the eneni}' expected supplies, 
 and whose line he intended to follow south, possibly 
 hoping to unite with Johnston in the Carolinas. Grant 
 started with this column ; and we knew that affairs on 
 the northerly line were in the full tide of success, b}' 
 little waifs borne to us from time to time, almost mean- 
 ingless singl}^, but of most excellent omen united. 
 How triumphant we felt ! The assault and capture of 
 the Cockade Cit}- rekindled all the flame that the ashes 
 of a ten months' siege had covered but not extinguished. 
 A march through its battered streets and its beautiful 
 outskirts had deepened the sense of victory. The 
 balmy air and invigoration of sun and cheerful fields 
 of the Virginia spring stirred the physical man ; and 
 the very beasts of burden, escaped from plodding 
 through the winter's mud, seemed to catch the contagion 
 of the march. We were like so man}' school-boys on a 
 holida}-. Sick of the restraints of the earth- works' nar- 
 row limits, of the monotonous routine of camp, of 
 shelling and being shelled, — an occupation that was 
 irksome and not edifying, — of the addition of perverse 
 columns, whose frequent resultant was disastrous sub- 
 traction, we started off with perhaps more than usual 
 glee, because directed against no fixed poiat, but lia])le 
 to wander over half, the State before entering a perma- 
 nent camp. We were very joll3\ We expected one 
 sharp fight ; but the spirit of pi-opliecy within us 
 announced that the day of retribution for the wicked 
 Rebels was at hand, — that we were surel}' crushing 
 the Rebellion. The mother of States and of presidents 
 had presided over many solemn marches and statel}' 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 239 
 
 minuets, in which we had been unwilling participants 
 during the past four 3'ears. AVe had danced sometimes, 
 "vvhen the desire was not in us ; we had frequentl}' paid 
 the piper when it was inconvenient ; but now we were 
 instituting a veritable Virginia Reel, into which we 
 entered heart and soul. But no form of words can 
 describe our exultation, partly ph3'sical from pure ani- 
 mal excitement, but chieli}' moral from the conscious- 
 ness of the speedy triumph of the good cause for which 
 we had fought so desperatelj' and so long. 
 
 The pride and pomp and all that sort of thing of war 
 are seldom displayed — or should one saj^ deplo3^ed ? 
 — in campaign. The pursuit of an enem}', the life-and- 
 death business of an active arm}', are not favorable to 
 stage effects, certainl}' not to designed effects. But 
 little gems often sparkle in the setting of bayonets 
 that owe their value quite as much to what they 
 mean ^s to what they are. During a mid-day rest 
 at Nottowa}^ Court-House, a group was gathered on 
 the stoop or porch of the deserted tavern, which, 
 except for the dust}' undress uniforms, might well 
 have been taken for a simple part}^ of travellers. 
 There was no parade, no displfi}". The main road on 
 which the troops were marching was not in immediate 
 view. A few orderlies held the horses and attended to 
 their wants. 
 
 Some of the dozen men walked hither and thither, 
 evidentl}' unemployed. One or two were half asleep. 
 One or two more were jotting down, or referring to, 
 notes in little books. A sturdy, thoughtful, but cheer- 
 ful-looking man, who seemed the head of the party, 
 talked occasionall}^ with others, who listened respect- 
 fully, or replied, as the case might be. His voice, as 
 caught, was low, but clear and gentle. There appeared 
 in his manner, or in that of his companions, nothing to 
 excite remark, certainh' nothing to inspire awe ; and, 
 above all, there was not the least token of parade, — 
 no "fuss and feathers," no glitter and dash, such as 
 the heroes of the books are often invested with. The 
 
240 
 
 STORIE^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 most timid child would not have hesitated to ask a 
 favor of that cigar-smoking, tawny-bearded, kindly- 
 looking man, who was General Grant with his staff. 
 A good share of the brains engaged in antagonizing the 
 Rebellion spent an hour or two on that rusty old tavern 
 porch ; but no sign of tinsel was hung out, and no 
 nerve-power was wasted in attitudes. 
 
 The march that da}' w^as long ; but, about the middle 
 of the afternoon, glad tidings came over from the other 
 line ; and the despatch was read to the troops while in 
 motion. The particulars are not vital now ; but so many 
 men, so many generals, so many guns, were captured. 
 As the head of each brigade reached a certain point, 
 the despatch was read ; and it moved along with still 
 livelier stride. Each command in turn gave the cheer 
 of thanksgiving ; and it was propagated b}' contagion 
 front and rear. Those ahead renewed it, glad that 
 others were sharing in the joy they just had felt. Those 
 behind took it up, full of faith that there was goocl cause 
 for the outburst. After a while, the}' seemed only to 
 fear lest there would be no Rebels left for them to cap- 
 ture. 
 
 A few hours later the western sun looked full in the 
 face of the moving column. The road, which there 
 ran b}- the side of a forest, was filled with troops, who 
 swung along wath the free, full stride of men whose 
 legs kept time to the quick-step of earnest hearts. The 
 well-closed ranks, the accoutrements in good condition, 
 the square shoulders, and serious but hopeful faces be- 
 neath the forage-caps, marked them veterans ; and the 
 fairl3'-reflecting steel of the arms shone like a glory 
 over the entire array. That magnificent mass of in- 
 fantr}', apparently without end, but presenting the same 
 effectiveness, wherever viewed, looked the incarnation 
 of resistless power. As far as the e3'e could reach, 
 the curving countr}- road was vivid with the livel}', but 
 not boisterous, blue and steel. On the left were green 
 fields, cultivated and refreshing to the sight. On the 
 right, the road was bordered by a forest, whose trees 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 241 
 
 were fiill-grown and old. Through this forest, and by 
 the side of this magnificent bod}', Generals Grant and 
 Ord had been riding together ; and their well-mounted 
 staffs and escorts formed a large and sprightly caval- 
 cade, winding in and out between the trees, here com- 
 paratively free from undergrowth. Their rattling sabres, 
 and their greater vivacity, the more quickly-moving 
 horses, and the occasional change of pace or direc- 
 tion, gave more of the notion of mobility than the 
 monotonous tramp, tramp, of the infantr3\ The swiftl}'- 
 falling sun in the clear heavens threw shadows that 
 magnified the originals into an arm}' of giants ; while 
 its direct rays glorified all they touched. Ord had just 
 fallen back, and Grant was beginning to move ahead 
 at a livelier gait ; the mingled staffs had said good-by, 
 and were again gathered into their proper groups ; the 
 escorts had closed up in their respective places, — when 
 from the right and rear, two troopers in the Rebel uni- 
 form dashed out of the wood on literally foam-flecked 
 horses. They were only two ; but to the outward eye 
 their dusty gray clothes, their long hair and wild aspect, 
 and their general appearance, indescribable, but typical 
 of the Southern cavalry, marked them as unquestionably 
 Rebels. But their bold and rapid advance directly up 
 to the column declared them, although personally un- 
 recognized, as scouts. Inquiring for General Grant, 
 they fairly pushed their horses to a run, in their eager- 
 ness to overtake him when the squadron that followed 
 him was pointed out. Just as our party again came up. 
 Grant, who had halted and read their despatch, imper- 
 turbable as ever, turned to two of his staff: "Colonel 
 
 and Colonel , I wish you to go with me." 
 
 While a led horse was being prepared, he spoke a few 
 words to his adjutant-general, and, before remounting, 
 wrote a line or two, using a saddled horse as a desk. 
 Meanwhile, the ceaseless stream of infantry was rolling 
 by his side ; the lower and lower sun cast greater shad- 
 ows from the huge trees, and still brighter beams from 
 the polished barrels; the great clusters of horsemen 
 
 16 
 
242 STORIES^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 again coalesced, full of chat and conjecture ; the hard- 
 riding scouts at lirst loosened and then tightened their 
 horses' girths and their own belts ; and then, just as 
 the sun went down, the lieutenant-general and the two 
 aids, with an orderly or two and the m3'sterious stran- 
 gers, started off on a long trot directl^^ through the dark- 
 ening forest, at right angles to our line of march, and 
 into a countr}' which, if it held an3'thing, held Rebels. 
 Thej' w^ere going to the column ; for Grant had news 
 from Sheridan. We had had a glimpse of the romance 
 of war. 
 
 On Frida}^ we reached Farmville, w^hose inhabitants, 
 if not overjo3^ed to see us, at least were not openly 
 hostile. Lee had been foiled in his effort to escape 
 southward, and was exerting all his energ}- to gain 
 L3'nchburg. We, still in pursuit, were correspondingly 
 elated ; and it was a matter of small moment who fell 
 in love with us en route. Farmville ver3' closel3' resem- 
 bled those finished towns so common in some sections. 
 One could almost see surrounding it the mythical fence 
 that is said to enclose and denote such completed vil- 
 lages. A church was occupied for the night b3' the 
 staff of General Ord, the general himself resting, by 
 invitation, in the house of a citizen. Among the cher- 
 ished traditions of Revolutionar3' horrors in mv birth- 
 place is the story of the desecration by the British of 
 the village church where m3^ ancestors preached. ^ Cir- 
 cumstances so altered the relation of things, that no 
 qualm of conscience disturbed my rej^ose that night on 
 the Farmville cushions. True, the red-coats used the 
 one as permanent barracks, and introduced horses as 
 well as men. We were heathen but for a single night ; 
 and our sacrilege was less physical than spiritual. Our 
 horses were not admitted ; the building was opened by 
 one of its own dignitaries ; and we were scrupulous to 
 inflict no unnecessar3' mischief. 
 
 Diagonall3^ opposite to the church, which was on a 
 corner, was a young ladies' seminar3% then in the midst 
 of cultivation ; but the surl3' shutters remained imper- 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 243 
 
 vious to the levelled field-glasses, although a sanguine 
 few fancied they saw signs of vitality, if not of hostil- 
 ity^, through an occasional crevice. 
 
 Strangely enough, we were invited to tea by a gentle- 
 man, who, if memor\^ serves, made no profession of 
 Union sentiments, but seemed actuated by pure, ab- 
 stract hospitalit}'. It may be that he looked upon it as 
 a gentle species of bribery in the interest of his property 
 against possible destruction ; for the Yankee name in- 
 spired much awe among the untravelled natives. Be 
 that as it may, he gave us a most capital supper, that 
 was heartil}' enjoj'ed ; for we .had eaten nothing since 
 morning, and our wagons were in the unknown rear. 
 
 All the troops passed through and be3'ond Farm- 
 ville rapidly enough ; but, notwithstanding their ab- 
 sence, the place was abundantl}' lively the next day. 
 Both Grant and Ord had made head-quarters there ; 
 Meade w^as not far off; Sheridan halted there for a while ; 
 and the aids and escorts, the officers and orderlies, 
 filled the streets with much clatter and bustle. There 
 was no more parade than at Nottowa}' ; but there was 
 all that martial stir and tremor that necessarily marks 
 the head-quarters of a great army at a critical time. 
 Perhaps the most pronounced feature was a troop of 
 Sheridan's scouts, two of wdiom have been previoush^ 
 mentioned. These, clad in gray, rode through the 
 streets in the most approved frontier fashion ; and no 
 horde of Texans ever looked wilder than these pseudo- 
 Rebels, who did such good service for the National 
 cause. And, while acknowledging their usefulness, it 
 must be confessed that they were as cut-throat-Zoo^m^ 
 a gang as ever wore spurs. 
 
 But Farraville is pre-eminently remembered b}' a com- 
 ical incident, after this fashion. Falling into conversa- 
 tion with the wife of a civil functionar}" (for the citizens 
 were talkative enough), she finally said something to 
 this effect : — 
 
 "T don't see what 3'ou Yankees want to come down 
 here and take away all our negroes for." 
 
244 STORIE^rOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 " M}' dear madam, that is not our object. They will 
 go otf after the arm}', in man}- cases, I know ; but we 
 are not here for that purpose." 
 
 " AVhat do 3'ou suppose we are going to do without 
 our servants." 
 
 " Indeed, I hope 3'ou will not lose all 3'our servants." 
 
 " Yes, we will ; I know we will ! I know they '11 all 
 go off. And what do 3'ou suppose I will do then ? " 
 
 " I 'm sure that I hope they'll not all desert 3'OU ; 
 but, if they should, vou can easily supply their places." 
 
 " No. They '11 all go, I know they will. And what 
 do 3'Ou think will become, of me? Do 3'ou think I will 
 work ? " 
 
 " I can't imagine 3'Ou to be so unfortunate as not to 
 be able to get an3' servants whatever." 
 
 "We won't, — I know we won't; the}' '11 all go. 
 And I? — do 3^ou suppose I will work? Indeed, I 
 won't. Indeed, I ivon't work ! " 
 
 " I can't believe that 3-ou will be so reduced; for 
 there must be some servants to be had at all times." 
 
 " I tell you there won't be ; the}' '11 all go off. And 
 do 3'ou think I '11 work ? I 've always had servants. 
 Indeed, I won't work. Do you think I '11 do what I 've 
 always had servants to do ? Do you think I will cook ? 
 I shall do nothing of the sort. You come down here, 
 and take all our servants away, and then expect me to 
 work: indeed, I sha'n't." 
 
 " As I 've said before, madam, I sincerely hope you 
 will be able to obtain servants, if your own should 
 leave ; and I can scarcely conceive that you should not. 
 But suppose it should happen so that your own ser- 
 vants should all go, and that you could get no assist- 
 ance whatever, — that your picture should be realized, 
 — under such circumstances, if you could get literally 
 no one to help you, I presume you would really be 
 obliged to make 3'Our own bed, and to cook your own 
 food." 
 
 " Indeed, I won't. I don't care if the3^ all go. 
 What ! Do you suppose I will work ? I have always 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 245 
 
 had servants. You may take them all away. Do 3'ou 
 thhik I will work ? Indeed, I shall do nothing of the 
 kind." 
 
 "But just imagine the case, madam. If jou have 
 no one, and can't possibly get any one, the question 
 becomes ver}' simple. It is either to do it one's self, 
 or to go without ; and we know the consequences of 
 going without. I am sure I hope you ma}' not be so 
 compelled ; but, since that would be the only alterna- 
 tive, I am afraid 3'Ou might have to do j^our own 
 cooking." 
 
 " Indeed, I won't. I've alwa^^s had servants, and I 
 won't work : and I do n't see what 3'Ou Yankees want 
 to come down here for, and take our servants away." 
 
 To th<at stjde of argument, what could a man repl}' ? 
 
 We did not overtake the column that had pushed 
 ahead at an early hour, and with which Griffin's Fifth 
 Corps was also marching, until after mid-da}'- on Satur- 
 day. Even then, a long journey had been made; and 
 the men began to feel it, notwithstanding their elation 
 of spirits ; but they persisted manfully. Towards night- 
 fall, however, they naturally began to droop, for an all- 
 day's march is no light thing. Then, riding along the 
 ranks, Ord addressed them in pithy little sentences : 
 " Legs will win this battle, men." " It rests with us to 
 head them off." "This march will save all others." 
 "Whichever army marches best wins." "The cam- 
 paign is in your legs, men." "Good marching will 
 carry it." " They can't escape, if you will keep up to 
 it." " One good steady march, and the campaign is 
 ended." And, strenuously impressing upon the troops 
 that, by getting ahead of them, they would corral the 
 Rebels, that the termination of certainly the campaign, 
 perhaps the war, was virtually vested in the endurance 
 of their legs, — in other words, by conjoined appeals 
 to their good sense and manly pride, — their flagging 
 strength_ was stimulated ; and the weary troops were 
 kept in motion. Presently, messages came from Sheri- 
 dan, ahead, begging us to march to the utmost ; that if 
 
246 STORIES^OLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 we could make a certain distance, th'e problem would 
 be solved. Harris's brigade of Turner's division was 
 in the lead, — magnificent athletes, who had been 
 trained in the mountains of West Virginia and in the 
 Valley ; and better marching infantry never did. It 
 was ten o'clock that night before the troops went 
 into bivouac ; but, just as we lay down, a fresh de- 
 spatch from Sheridan announced that Custer had cap- 
 tured a park of artiller}' and innumerable stores, and 
 begged Ord to advance a little further, so that next 
 morning might end it. The '' assembly " rang out, the 
 men fell in, and, weary almost to exhaustion, thc}^ 
 staggered along up the road until past midnight. 
 Another bivouac was made, with strict orders for the 
 column to be stretched out at 3.30 a. m. But nature 
 has a limit, and it was onh' by the strenuous personal 
 exertions of the various general officers that we got in 
 motion after daylight. About seven o'clock, a half- 
 hour's halt was allowed for coffee, in the midst of which 
 there was sharp tiring ahead, and an urgent request for 
 the immediate support of the infantry. 
 
 It was worth the fatigue of the march to watch Sher- 
 idan explaining the situation to Ord. The "battle- 
 light " is not a myth nor a figure of speech ; on that 
 morning, it fairly transfigured Sheridan. His face in 
 repose is impassive and not striking ; but, on the edge 
 of the fight, he grew all aflame ; the transformation was 
 absolute. It is no exaggeration to sa}', that, in its 
 glow, one would scarceh' recognize him as the same 
 man ; but he did not lose his head. Excited, and 
 quivering with enthusiasm, his mind grew keener, not 
 tremulous ; his sentences were graphic, not confused. 
 Although surrounded b}' woods, so that the eye ren- 
 dered no aid, two minutes' conversation portrayed the 
 situation as clearly as if mapped before us. General 
 Ord gave his orders for the disposition of the troops ; 
 and we rode forward to witness what had been so 
 graphically depicted. Emerging from the woods, ou 
 the crest of a little bluff, a cleared basin lay before 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 247 
 
 us, out of which, and towards us, an immense num- 
 ber of dismounted cavahy-men, leading their horses, 
 were falling back. A strong Confederate skirmish- 
 line, whose wings stretched well on each side of the 
 main road, was in full view ; two brass guns in action 
 w^ere conspicuous in the sunlight ; and distant trains, 
 waiting to move on, revealed that at last w^e had 
 come up with the swift- footed foe. The Confed- 
 erates seemed in high glee ; and well the}' might be, 
 for thej' appeared to have forced back the terrible 
 cavalry, and to have a way to the mountains open 
 before them. As we sat there, Sheridan, in a burst 
 of personal daring and displa}^, like the solitary flash 
 of lightning before the storm, clashed off down the right 
 to reconnoitre, directly in the face of the Rebels, and 
 within their eas}- range. An orderl}', bearing his crim- 
 son and white standard, making him so much the more 
 conspicuous, followed ; and his career seemed that of 
 some storied knight, offering adventurous personal 
 challenge, rather than a modern general, whose pre- 
 sumed province was the cool and comprehensive over- 
 sight of an arm}'. But he knew his position ; and his 
 apparent recklessness was not folly. 
 
 We rode farther to the right ; and, again emerging 
 from the screen of woods, the full field was displayed. 
 The last of our cavalry had disappeared from its first 
 position ; the Rebel guns were far down the opposite 
 declivit}' ; the strong skirmish-line was thrown well for- 
 w^ard and advancing ; the mtwss of the enemy was 
 known to be but a little in its rear ; and the view pre- 
 sented was that of a Confederate field-da}'. Just then, 
 a loud report announced one of our own guns as open- 
 ing. At the same instant, a return crackle was heard 
 from the woods just before them ; and the Rebel skir- 
 mishers halted. The legs had done their part, and our 
 own infantry was at last engaged. Our skirmishers 
 advanced, and the Rebels retired ; but their retiring was 
 a master-piece of discipline. They fired " at will," fell 
 back a few paces, fired again, made a momentary ad- 
 
248 STORIES TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 vanee, again fired, and again fell back, as orderl}* and 
 methodically as if on parade. The brass guns likewise 
 began to withdraw, then fired, then were run back, and 
 so on, until finally the crest of the hill was reached. 
 By this time, our full lines of battle had emerged from 
 the timber. The Fifth Corps and the Army of the 
 James held the right and loft respectivel}', with the 
 centre between them, in common ; and the remounted 
 cavalry massed on Griffin's right. Our artiller}- fired 
 more rapidly, our skirmishers pressed forward with 
 greater speed, the Rebel riflemen retired in haste, and 
 the guns lingered for an instant on the ridge, as we 
 began a general advance. 
 
 The long lines swept silentlj' forward, to possess the 
 victor}' they were conscious awaited them. Many 
 events prove historic, of the importance of w^hich the 
 participants are at the time ignorant ; but, on that Sun- 
 da}' morning, not a bayonet or a sabre but knew that 
 the vitalit}' of the Eebellion awaited its thrust. As we 
 afterwards learned, the North had gone wild over the 
 fall of Richmond ; but in the arm}', although the direct 
 prize for which so many had fought so long, that was 
 regarded as but an omen of ultimate success. While 
 Lee and his forces were in the field, the real work was 
 incomplete. Ever}' man appreciated the consequences 
 of the approaching action ; and there was not a soldier 
 who had raced in the pursuit but realized that the crisis 
 was at hand. The advance was magnificent. The im- 
 mense wave of infantry, capped and sparkling with steel 
 and colors, and preceded by its skirmish spray, rolled 
 forward as steadily as the resistless sea, and with only 
 the seething hiss of its own motion before the billow 
 breaks. The great cloud of cavalry hung ready to pour 
 its storm ; the catastrophe w^as imminent, — but, just 
 as the culmination was at hand, a shout ran down the 
 line, and men's hearts beat wilder yet. A white flag 
 rode out. Legs had won ! 
 
 The flag bore a note from General Gordon, in our 
 immediate front, asking a truce. General Ord, as the 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 249 
 
 senior present, granted it, until General Grant could be 
 consulted. The lines were ordered to stand fast, the 
 skirmishers serving as pickets. Presentl}-, the ranking 
 generals, on invitation, rode down to the Court-House 
 near b}^ ; but, as Sheridan approached the Rebel lines, 
 their pickets fired on him at short range. One expla- 
 nation was, that, by an oversight, they had not been 
 instructed as to the truce ; another, that the}^ avowed 
 themselves South Carolinians, and would therefore 
 "never surrender." Had one bullet struck, how that 
 avalanche of cavahy on the neighboring ridge would 
 have desolated the insurgents ! About noon, it was 
 ofRcialty announced that the Army of Northern Virginia 
 would surrender. The pickets fraternized ; and, were 
 it not for the restraints of discipline, the armies them- 
 selves, to all appearance, would have coalesced. 
 
 By a curious coincidence, the articles of the surrender 
 were drawn up in the house of a gentleman whose 
 former home was on the field of Bull Run, and who had 
 moved to this localit}^ to avoid the region of active 
 hostilities. How could he anticipate that the head- 
 waters of the Appomattox would be the " last ditch," 
 or that his new farm would witness the virtual close, as 
 his old one had seen the first actual battle, of the war ! 
 
 The hosts dispersed almost as rapidly as they had 
 assembled. Promptl}^ the next morning, Sheridan led 
 the cavahy to Danville, and the Sixth Corps followed. 
 Grant and Ord returned to tide-water immediatel}', and 
 much the larger part of the troops were quickl}' marched 
 awa}'. Only enough remained to attend to the necessary 
 formalities of the capitulation. Ver}' few of those 
 whose genius and valor accomplished it witnessed the 
 actual surrender of the Rebels. When defeat is assured, 
 the combatant victors are not the ones who exult in the 
 humiliation of brave enemies. 
 
 Excepting by those to whom the afflictions directlj^ 
 came, there appears to have been no proper apprecia- 
 tion, at the North, of the dail}^ casualties that blotted 
 the calendar of that final week ; while, in fact, at Appo- 
 
250 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 mattox itself, the seals of the surrender were moistened 
 with the blood of two hundred brave fellows, contem- 
 plation of the result diverted popular attention from the 
 road that led to it. 
 
 Two incidents, ordinaril}^ not noteworthy, seemed of 
 special hardship on that ultimate da}'. One' was, a 
 Confederate gun still in position, on the Lynchburg 
 highway, with a dead cannoneer lying by its trail. 
 Constant to the last, the misguided but faithful Rebel 
 clung to his post, sacrificed himself in his effort to 
 secure for his comrades the one avenue of escape, and 
 died just as resistance became hopeless, — a noble but 
 unavailing victim for the cause he loved. The thought 
 of Appomattox alwa3's brings before me that poor dead 
 gunner, ashen and gra}', l3ing alone and stark in the 
 dusty road. 
 
 The other was the case of a soldier of the Fifth New 
 York, mortall}^ wounded by almost the last, if not 
 actually the last, Rebel fire. As he was borne off the 
 field, the message of submission came in sight ; the 
 cause he died -for achieved its crowning triumph ; but 
 he . fell, another martyr, an apparentlv superfluous 
 martyr, to the infernal Rebellion. He died in the arms 
 of victor}', ignorant that it was victor}'. The ranks 
 closed up, — one man is not missed in a regiment. But 
 all that he had he had given. He had given, as so 
 many thousands gave, life, — had given it in faith and 
 love. The sadness is not that he died, — we all were 
 willing to die if need be, — but that he died when the 
 victory was won. — Dr. Alfred A. WoodhulL 
 
 SHERIDAN DESCRIBES THE EXD. 
 
 The resistance growing stubborn, a halt was called to 
 get up Wheaton's division of the Sixth Corps, which went 
 into position on the left of the road, Se}'mour being on 
 the right. Wheaton was ordered to guide right, with 
 his right connecting Avith Seymour's left and resting on 
 the road. I still felt the great importance of pushing 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 251 
 
 the enemy, and was unwilling to wait for Gett3''s divis- 
 ion -of the Sixth Corps to get up. I therefore ordered 
 an advance, sending word to General Humphrey's, who 
 was on the road to our right, and requesting him to 
 push on, as I felt confident we could break up the enem3\ 
 It was apparent from the absence of artiller}' fire, and 
 the manner in which the_y gave way, when pressed, that 
 the force of the enemy opposed to us was a heav}^ rear- 
 guard. The enemy was driven until our lines reached 
 Sailor's Creek ; and, from the north bank, I could see 
 our cavahyon the high bank above the creek, and south 
 of it, and the long line of smoke from the burning 
 wagons. A cavalry-man, who, in a charge, cleared the 
 enemy's works and came through their lines, reported 
 to me what was in front. I regret that I have for- 
 gotten the name of this gallant 3'oung soldier. 
 
 As soon as General Wright could get his artillery 
 into position I ordered the attack to be made on the 
 left, and sent Colonel Stagg's brigade of cavalry to 
 strike and flank the extreme right of the enemy's line. 
 
 The attack by the infantr}' was not executed exactly 
 as I had directed, and a portion of our line in the open 
 ground was broken by the terrible fire of the enemy, 
 who were in position on commanding ground south of 
 the creek. 
 
 This attack by Wheaton's and Seymour's divisions 
 was splendid, but no more than I had reason to think 
 from the gallant Sixth Corps. The cavahy in rear of 
 the enem}^ attacked simultaneougl}^ and the enem}^, 
 after a gallant resistance, were completelj' surrounded, 
 and nearl}^ all threw down their arms and surrendered. 
 
 General Ewell, commanding the enemy's forces, and 
 a number of other general officers, fell into our hands, 
 and a very large number of prisoners 
 
 On the 7th instant the pursuit was continued early 
 in the morning by the cavalry, General Couch in the 
 advance. It was discovered that the enem}^ had not 
 been cut oflT b}' the Arm}^ of the James, and under the 
 belief that he would attempt to escape on the Danville 
 
252 ST0RIE3^0LD by SOLDIERS. 
 
 road through Prince Edward Court-Hotise, General 
 Merritt was ordered to move his two divisions to that 
 point, passing around the left of the Arm}' of the 
 James. General Crook continued the direct pursuit, 
 encountering the main body of the enem}' at Farmville, 
 and again on the north side of the Appomattox, where 
 the enemy's trains were attacked b}' General Gregg, and 
 a sharp fight with the enemy's infantry ensued, in which 
 General Gregg was unfortunately captured. 
 
 On arriving at Prince Edward Court-IIouse I found 
 General McKenzie, with his division of cavalry from 
 the Arniy of the James, and ordered him to cross the 
 bridge on the Buffalo River and make a reconnoissance 
 to Prospect Station on the Lynchburg Railroad, and 
 ascertain if the enemj- were moving past that point. 
 Meantime I heard from General Crook that the enemy 
 had crossed to the north side of the Appomattox, and 
 General Merritt was then moved on and encamped at 
 Buffalo Creek, and General Crook was ordered to re- 
 cross the Appomattox and encamp at Prospect Station. 
 On the morning of the 8th Merritt and McKenzie con- 
 tinued the march to Prospect Station, and Merritt's 
 and Crook's commands then moved on to Appomattox 
 Court-House. Shortly after the march commenced. 
 Sergeant White, one of my scouts, notified me that 
 there were four trains of cars at Appomattox depot 
 loaded with supplies for General Lee's arm}' ; Generals 
 Merritt and Crook were at once notified, and the com- 
 mand pushed on briskly for twenty-eight miles. Gen- 
 eral Custer had the advance, and on nearing the depot 
 skilfully threw a force in rear of the trains and cap- 
 tured them. Without halting a moment he pushed on, 
 driving the enemy (who had reached the depot about 
 the same time as our cavalry) in the direction of Appo- 
 mattox Court-House, capturing many prisoners and 
 twenty-five pieces of artillery, a hospital train, and a 
 large park of wagons. General Devin coming up, 
 went in on the right of Custer. The fighting continued 
 till after dark, and, the enemy being driven to Appo- 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 253 
 
 mattox Court-House, I at once notified the Lieutenant- 
 General, and sent word to Generals Ord and Gibbon 
 of the Arm}' of the James, and General Griffin com- 
 manding the Fifth Corps, who were in rear, that, if they 
 pressed on, there was now no means of escape for the 
 enemy, who had reached "the last ditch." During 
 the night, although we knew that the remnant of Lee's 
 army was in our front, we held fast with the cavalry to 
 what we had gained, and ran the captured trains back 
 along the railroad to a point where they would be pro- 
 tected by our infantry that was coming up. The 
 Twentj'-fourth and Fifth Corps and one division of the 
 Twenty-fifth Corps arrived about daylight on the 9th at 
 Appomattox depot. 
 
 After consulting with General Ord, who was in com- 
 mand of these corps, I rode to the front, near Appo- 
 mattox Court-House, and just as the enem}^ in heavy 
 force was attacking the cavalry with the intention of 
 breaking through our lines, I directed the cavalry, 
 which was dismounted, to fall back, gradually resist- 
 ing the enem}', so as to give time for the infantr}' to 
 form its lines and march to the attack, and, when this 
 was done, to move off to the right flank and mount. 
 This was done, and the enemy disconthiued his attack 
 as soon as he caught sight of our infantr3\ I moved 
 briskly around the left of the enemj^'s line of battle, 
 and was about to charge the trains and the confused 
 mass of the enemy, when a white flag was presented to 
 General Custer, who had the advance, and who sent 
 the information to me at once that the enemj^ desu'ed to 
 surrender. — Gen. Phil. Sheridan. 
 
 THE FIGHT OF APEIL 6TH. 
 
 The night of the 1st of Ai^ril, 1865, was occupied by 
 the Sixth Corps in preparation for a general assault on 
 the enemy's lines below Petersburg. The brigades 
 were formed in columns of attack, preceded by a band 
 of pioneers and a heavy skirmish line. In our brigade, 
 
254 STORIE^TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 the pioneers were under the direction of Sergeant 
 Tracy, and the skirmish line was commanded by Cap- 
 tain J. C. Robinson. Both these officers were of the 
 Thirty-seventh. The skirmish hne was composed en- 
 tirely- of men detailed from the Thirt3'-seventh. The 
 Thirty-seventh itself occupying the front line of battle 
 in the brigade. AVhile cutting awa}' the abatis' in front 
 of the enemy's forts, the pioneers suffered severel^^ 
 Sergeant Tracy was early disabled by a ball passing- 
 through his leg. He did not lea^-e the field, but, lying 
 on his side, he still directed the movements of his 
 men. AVliile thus engaged, a second ball shattered his 
 knee-joint. Captain Robinson charged, at the head of 
 his skirmishers, through the abatis, when he was 
 wounded and had to be borne back. The colors of the 
 Thirt^^-seventh were the first in the division to wave 
 over the Rebel works. The Rebels fired their last vol- 
 ley as the regiment climbed from the ditch to the para- 
 pet. Man}" personal encounters ensued. Captain 
 Champnc}" was foremost in entering the fort, and was 
 indefatigable in preventing the escape of any Rebels. 
 Sergeant Boston, of Company F, rushed on a brawny 
 graj'-back, and disarmed him at a single pass of his 
 w^eapon. Corporal "Welch, of Company E, succeeded 
 in wresting a battle-flag from a Rebel color-bearer, and 
 was rewarded with a medal. From the fort, we pushed 
 on towards the left until we met the troops of the other 
 brigade, and then forward to the Southside Railroad. 
 We alone, of the Sixth Corps, entered Petersburg the 
 next morning. Colonel Edwards received the surren- 
 der of the place. In this engagement, we lost three 
 killed and thirty- three wounded. Among the latter 
 were Captain Robinson, and Lieutenants Waterman 
 and Sheldon. 
 
 Constant marching and countermarching for four 
 days carried us over seventy miles of country, and 
 found us again in front of the enemy in the neighbor- 
 hood of Sailor's Creek. The morning of the Oth we 
 were at Amelia Court-House. At noon we had made a 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 255 
 
 marcli of twentj'-lBve miles, double-quicking nearlj' eight 
 miles of the way, and were confronting the enemy, with 
 a deep stream between iis. Our brigade was on the 
 extreme right of the line, and the Thirty-seventh occu- 
 pied the left of the brigade. Rushing like an avalanche 
 across Sailor's Creek, where the water was up to our 
 arm-pits, we dislodged the enemy from the opposite 
 bank, and drove them over the crest of the hill. 
 
 Bej'ond the stream for a quarter of a mile, we ad- 
 vanced through a thick growth of underbrush, fighting 
 as we went. The firing waxed hotter and hotter, until 
 suddenl}^ we found, to our clisma}", that the regiment on 
 our right had given way, and the brigade on our left 
 had broken the connection, and halted some distance 
 back. We were lost to our friends. Our nearest 
 neighbor was our foe. The Rebels came pouring down 
 upon us, and within a few seconds had attacked and 
 enveloped both flanks of the regiment. A hand-to- 
 hand conflict ensued. Many men were wounded with 
 the baj'onet, and pistol-shots were freel}^ exchanged. 
 Adjutant Bradle}^, in endeavoring to stem the torrent 
 of their attack upon the right flank, closed with a Rebel 
 captain, received a shot from the captain's pistol 
 through the shoulder, wrested the pistol from his hand, 
 was shot through both legs by a Rebel soldier, who 
 thought it time to interfere, while one of our men in a 
 like spirit, and with a surer aim, plunged a ball through 
 the body of the captain", kiUing him instantl3\ Cor- 
 poral Walker, of Compan}^ H, had a ba^^onet tilt with a 
 stalwart Rebel. The latter had the advantage in pos- 
 sessing the longer weapon (Spencer rifles are hardly 
 equal to Spring-fields in crossing ba3^onets), still, in 
 spite of this disadvantage, the corporal succeeded in dis- 
 arming his antagonist, and compelled him to surrender. 
 Captain Chandley was the centre of a bloody struggle. 
 Two of the Rebels and two of our own men fell fight- 
 ing around his person. One of our sergeants rushed to 
 the front and endeavored to seize a stand of colors. 
 He was instantly shot dead. Private Taggert, of 
 
256 STORIEIPtOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 Compaii}' B, saw him fall, darted from the line, and 
 bore away the prize through the smoke of battle. 
 Meanwhile, the Spencer rifle was working the havoc 
 for which it was intended. All down the front of our 
 regiment, the gaps that our fire opened in the enem3''s 
 ranks were fearful. They had started to attack us 
 massed in heav}^ columns. Scattered fragments onl}^ 
 reached us. They came, throwing down their guns, 
 raising their hands, and imploring the cessation of the 
 fire. After the battle, more than seventy corpses 
 were counted on the ground in our immediate front. 
 And when we consider that the proportion of the 
 slain to the disabled on the field of battle is usuall}^ 
 onl}^ as one to six, it will be seen that the carnage 
 was terrific. Among the prisoners who fell into our 
 hands was Major-General Custis Lee, the son of the 
 commander-in-chief of the Rebel armies. We lost 
 in this engagement eight men killed and thirty-one 
 wounded. Among the latter, Captain Smith, Adjutant 
 Bradley, and Lieutenant Cushman. Among the killed 
 were Ezra D. Cowles, First Sergeant of Compan}' D, 
 and Sergeant Bolton, of Company C. Sergeant Cowles 
 excited the admiration of all who saw him by his hero- 
 ism. He was mortally wounded early in the engage- 
 ment, but, instead of caring for himself, or allowing 
 others to minister to him, he encouraged all around 
 him " to fight," and, with his life-blood flowing away, 
 shamed those who would give over the battle for lost. — 
 Col. Edwards in Gen. Schoider's Report. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF HIGH BRIDGE. 
 
 Earl}^ in the 6th of April, in compliance with orders 
 received the night previous. Colonel Washburn, with 
 two regiments of infantr}^, eacli about four hundred 
 strong, and a part of his own force of cavalry, number- 
 ing thirteen officers and sixt^'-seven men, started to 
 destroy High Bridge, eighteen miles distant, and of 
 great importance to the retreating Rebel arm}-. The 
 
THE LAST WEEK. 257 
 
 bridge was reached about noon, the enemy offering 
 feeble resistance to his advance. The infantry were 
 halted in the vicinity of the bridge, while the cavalry 
 pushed on two miles further, meeting a superior force 
 of the enemy's cavalry, with artiller}- . A short time 
 before the bridge was reached. Brevet Brig. -Gen. 
 Theodore Read arrived, with orders to hold, and not 
 destroy, the bridge. He took command. The cavalry 
 retired to the bridge, and found the infantr}- warml}^ 
 engaged with another force of the enem3''s cavahy, and 
 showing signs of breaking. It was soon evident that 
 the eneni}' was superior in numbers, and that a fight at 
 long range could not be maintained until General Ord 
 should be apprised of their situation and should send 
 infantr}' — the only troops he had — to their relief. 
 
 Thus situated between two forces of the enemj', — 
 the larger between him and the Army of the James, — 
 to charge and break through the enemy, if possible, 
 seemed the only honorable course for General Read to 
 take ; no other was suggested. 
 
 Twice the cavalry charged, breaking through and 
 dispersing one line of the enem}^, re-forming and char- 
 ging a second, which was formed in a wood too dense to 
 admit of free use of the sabre. In vain, however ; eight 
 of twelve officers engaged were put hors du combat, — 
 three killed and five severel}^ wounded. The little 
 band was hemmed in and overpowered by two divisions 
 of cavalry, — Rosser's and Fitz Hugh Lee's, — the 
 advance of General Lee's army. 
 
 Colonel ^yashburn,, whose intrepid braver}' in this 
 fight endears his name to his associates, and adds the 
 crowning glory to a life elevated b}' the purest patriot- 
 ism, died a few weeks afterwards from the effect of his 
 wounds. Because of the influence of the affair upon 
 the results of the campaign I have dwelt upon it. 
 
 " To the sharpness of that fight," said a Rebel colo- 
 nel, inspector-general on Lee's staff, to General Ord, 
 " the cutting oft" of Lee's arm}' at Appomattox Court- 
 House was probably owing." So fierce were the charges 
 
258 
 
 STORI10 TOLT) BY SOLDIERS, 
 
 of Colonel Washburn and his men, and so determined 
 their fighting, that General Lee received the impres- 
 sion that they must be supported b}' a lai-ge part of the 
 arm}', gave what the inspector-general called '^ stamped- 
 ing orders," and began to throw up the line of breast- 
 works which were found there the next day; Three 
 trains of provisions, forage, and clothing, which had 
 been sent down from Lynchburg on tlie Southside 
 road, were sent back to prevent their falling into our 
 hands, and his arm}', which was on third rations, and 
 those. of corn only, was thus deprived of the provisions 
 the want of which exliausted them so much. 
 
 Moreover, b}' the delay occasioned by this halt. Gen- 
 eral Sheridan was enabled to come up with Ewell's 
 division at Sailor's Creek. When Lee discovered his 
 mistake, and that the fighting force in his front was 
 only a small detachment of cavahy and infantry, Gen- 
 eral Ord, with the Army of the James, had already 
 profi^^ted by the dela}', and so closed up with him that a 
 retreat directl}' south was no longer practicable ; he 
 was obliged to make the detour b}' way of Appomattox 
 Court-House. General Rosser concurs in this opinion, 
 and states that the importance of the fight has never 
 been appreciated. — General Schouler. 
 
 THE REBEL ARMY. 
 
 When at last the beginning of the end came, in the 
 evacuation of Richmond and the effort to retreat, every- 
 thing seemed to go to pieces at,once. The best disci- 
 plinarians in the arm}' relaxed their reins. The best 
 troops became disorganized, and hardly any command 
 marched in a body. Companies were mixed together, 
 parts of each being separated by detachments of others. 
 Flying citizens, in vehicles of every conceivable sort, 
 accompanied and embarrassed the columns. Many com- 
 mands marched heedlessly on without orders, and seem- 
 ingly witliout a thought of whither they were going. 
 Others mistook the meaning of their instructions, which 
 
I 
 
 THE LAST WEEK. 259 
 
 it was impossible to obey in aii}^ case. At Amelia Court- 
 House we should have found provisions. General Lee 
 had ordered a train load to meet him there, but the inter- 
 ests of the starving army had been sacrificed to the 
 convenience or the cowardice of the President and his 
 personal following. The train had been hurried on to 
 Richmond and its precious cargo of food thrown out 
 there, in order that Mr. Da^ds and his people might 
 retreat rapidly and. comfortably from the abandoned 
 capital. Then began the desertion of which we have 
 heard so much. Up to that time, as far as I can learn, 
 if desertions had occurred at all, they had not become 
 general ; but now that the government, in fl3'ing from 
 the foe, had cut off our supply- of provisions, what were 
 the men to do? Man}- others followed the example of 
 the government, and fled ; but a singularlj^ large propor- 
 ^tion of the little whole staj'ed and starved to the last. 
 And it was no technical or metaphorical starvation 
 which .we had to endure, either, as a brief statement of 
 ni}' OAvn experience will show. The batter^" to which I 
 was attached was captured near Amelia Court-House, 
 and within a mile or two of m}* home. Seven men only 
 escaped, and, as I knew intimately everybod}' in the 
 neighborhood, I had no trouble in getting horses for 
 these to ride. Appl3'ing to General Lee in person for 
 instructions, I was ordered to march on, using my own 
 judgment, and rendering what service I could in the 
 event of a battle. In this independent fashion I marched, 
 with much better chances than most of the men had to 
 get food, and yet during three da3's and nights our total 
 supph" consisted of one ear of corn to the man, and we 
 divided that with our horses. — Capt. G. C. Eggleston of 
 the Confederate Army. 
 
 SHERIDAN AT FIVE FORKS. 
 
 A colonel with a shattered regiment came down upon 
 as in a charge. The ba^'onets were fixed, the men came 
 on with a yell. Their gray uniform seemed black amid 
 
260 STORIED TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 the smoke. Their preserved colors, torn l\y grape and 
 ball, waved defiantly. Twice they halted, and poured 
 in valleys, but came on again like the surge from the 
 fog, depleted, but determined. Yet in the hot faces of 
 the carabineers they read a purpose as resolute, but 
 more calm ; and while they pressed along, swept all the 
 while by scathing volle3's, a group of horsemen took 
 them in the flank. 
 
 It was an awful instant. The horses recoiled ; the 
 charging column trembled like a single thing : but at 
 once the Rebels, with rare organization, fell into a hol- 
 low square, and with solid sheets of steel defied our 
 centaurs. The horsemen rode around them in vain : 
 no charge could break the shining squares till our dis- 
 mounted carabineers poured in their volleys afresh, mak- 
 ing gaps in their spent ranks ; and then in their waving 
 line the cavahy thundered down. The Rebels could 
 stand no more ; they reeled and swayed, and fell back, 
 broken and beaten ; and on the ground their colonel 
 lay sealing his devotion with his life. — N. Y. World. 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS'S FLIGHT. 
 
 He was at church on Sunda}^ morning. The minister 
 was preaching, when an orderly entered, and handed a 
 note to the President of the Confederac}'. It was a 
 despatch from Lee, that his lines were broken in three 
 places, and that Richmond must be evacuated. It was 
 as if a hand had written once more, " Mone, mene, 
 tekel .... Thou art weighed and found wanting ; 
 thy kingdom is divided." He turned pale ; but, taking 
 his hat, he hurriedly left the church. The hour of 
 twelve came. The people, as they passed the Capitol 
 on their wa}- home from church, saw men hurriedly- bring- 
 ing out the state papers, piling them upon the ground, 
 and setting them on fire. It was the first intimation 
 they had that the city was to be evacuated. — Mrs. 
 Hanaford. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 A ND so the war was done. And may the good 
 -^^- God grant that it shall be ten million billion 
 years before anybody proposes another like it. 
 As for the Rebel soldiers they went home. They 
 were soured and disappointed, but at the bottom of 
 their hearts they were glad the fighting was over. 
 Some one asked if they were to give up their 
 horses. " No," said General Grant, " they will 
 want their horses to plough the land. Let them 
 take their horses." There is a great deal of phi- 
 losophy in this word of the great soldier, and there 
 is a vein of humor in it too, as there is in most 
 philosophy. So they took their horses and went 
 home. 
 
 As for the Union army, it was determined than 
 both the great divisions, that of Meade and that 
 of Sherman, should pass through the city of 
 Washington, and, in a grand review, should receive 
 a sort of farewell from the President before they 
 were dismissed to their homes. 
 
202 STOIUH^ TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 This review is thus described by General Sher- 
 man. Nor could I find a better last " Story of the 
 War " thau that which is told so well by this great 
 soldier. 
 
 During the afternoon and night of the 23d, the 
 Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Corps crossed 
 Long Bridge, bivouacked in the streets about the Cap- 
 itol, and the Fourteenth Corps closed up to the bridge. 
 The morning of the 2-4th was extremely beautiful, and 
 the ground was in splendid order for our review. The 
 streets were filled with people to see the pageant, armed 
 with bouquets of flowers for their favorite regiments or 
 heroes, and everything was propitious. Punctually at 
 nine a. m. the signal gun was tired, when in person, 
 attended b}^ General Howard and all my staff, I rode 
 slowl}^ down Penns3'lvania Avenue, the crowds of men, 
 women, and children densely lining the sidewalks, and 
 almost obstructing the way. We were followed close 
 by General Logan and the head of the Fifteenth Corps. 
 When I reached the Treasurv-building, and looked 
 back, the sight was simph' magnificent. The column 
 was compact, and the glittering muskets looked hke a 
 solid mass of steel, moving with the regularity of a 
 pendulum. We passed the Treasmy-building, in front 
 of which and of the White House was an immense 
 throng of people, for whom extensive stands had been 
 prepared on both sides of the Avenue. As I neared the 
 brick house opposite the lower corner of Lafa^'ette 
 Square, some one asked me to notice Mr. Seward, who, 
 still feeble and bandaged for his wounds, had been 
 removed there that he might behold the troops. 1 
 moved in that direction and took ofl^ my hat to Mr. 
 Seward, who sat at an upper window. He recognized 
 the salute, returned it, and then we rode on steadily 
 past the President, saluting with our swords. All on 
 his stand arose and acknowledged the salute. Then, 
 turning into the gate of the Presidential grounds, we 
 
THE END. 263 
 
 left our horses with orderlies, and went upon the stand, 
 where I found Mrs. Sherman, with her father and son. 
 Passing them, I shook hands with the President, Gen- 
 eral Grant, and each member of the Cabinet. I then 
 took my post on the left of the President, and for six 
 hours and a half stood, while the armj^ passed in the 
 order of the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, and 
 Fourteenth Corps. It was, in my judgment, the most 
 magnificent armj' in existence — sixt3'-five thousand 
 men, in splendid physique^ who had just completed a 
 march of nearly two thousand miles in a hostile country, 
 in good drill, and who realized that they were being 
 closelj' scrutinized by thousands of their fellow-country- 
 men and b}' foreigners. Division after division passed, 
 each commander of an army corps or division coming 
 on the stand during the passage of his command, to be 
 presented to the President, Cabinet, and spectators. 
 The steadiness and firmness of the tread, the careful 
 dress of the guides, the uniform intervals between the 
 companies, all eyes** directly- to the front, and the tat- 
 tered and bullet-riven flags, festooned with flowers, all 
 attracted universal notice. Mau}^ good people, up to 
 that time, had looked upon our Western arnw as a sort 
 of mob ; but the world then saw, and recognized the 
 fact, that it was an arm}' in the proper sense, well 
 organized, well commanded and disciplined ; and there 
 was no wonder that it had swept through the South like 
 a tornado. For six hours and a half that strong tread 
 of the Army of the West resounded along Penns3'lvauia 
 Avenue ; not a soul of that vast crowd of spectators 
 left his place ; and when the rear of the column had 
 passed b}', thousands of the spectators still lingered to 
 express their sense of confidence in the strength of a 
 government which could claim such an army. 
 
 Some little scenes enlivened the da}', and called for 
 the laughter and cheers of the crowd. Each division 
 was followed b}^ six ambulances, as a representative of 
 its baggage-train. Some of the division commanders 
 had added, by way of variety, goats, milch-cows, and 
 
264 STORim TOLD BY SOLDIERS. 
 
 pack-mules, wliose loads consisted of gjime-cocks, poul- 
 tr}', hams, etc., and some of them had the families of 
 freed slaves along, with the women leading their chil- 
 dren. Each division was preceded by its corps of black 
 pioneers, armed with picks and spades. These marched 
 abreast in double ranks, keeping perfect dress and step, 
 and added much to the interest of the occasion. On 
 the whole, the grand review was a splendid success, 
 and was a fitting conclusion to the campaign and the 
 war. — Gen. Sherman. 
 
 31^77-2 
 
 University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.