^^o" THE STORY OF A rHOUSAND Being- a history of the Service of the 105 til Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the War for the Union from August 21, 1862 to June 6, 1865. BY ALBION W. TOURGEE, LL. D. d ^^■^ BUFFALO : S. MCGERALD & SON. 1896. Copyright 1895 By Albion W. Tourgee. All rights reserved. S- c .b PREFACE. The Story of a Thousand is intended to be what the name imports, a storj' of the service of the 105th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the "War of Rebellion, dealing with events of a general interest to all its members rather than with mere personal incident. While it is true, that personal incident may be of especial interest to the survivors, the general public and even our immediate descendants, are less concerned about such matters than the general character of the service. I have therefore, endeavored to restrict personal incident al- most entirely to illustrative events common to the exper- ience of all. Fortunately, perhaps^ the regiment whose history I was asked to write, was one in which personal adventure cut a remarkably small figure. In its whole histor}', there is hardly an instance of individual contact with an enemy. There are no startling experiences to relate, no deeds of special daring or hair-breadth escapes. Except Captain "Wallace's rush after an escaping spy on the 17th of No- vember, 1864, striking him with the hilt of his saber with such force as to break the guard and render his recapture eas}', there is hardly a case of individual conflict. One other officer was saved from a personal encounter with a confederate in the charge made at Chickamauga, by a shot from one of the men. But. as a rule, while all experienced man}- pleasant and unpleasant episodes, they were not of a character to be of general interest or importance. As my own individual recollections end with December 1863, I have endeavored, so far as possible, to PREFA CE. allow others to give in their own words, the personal ele- ment of the suliseqnent service. , In this, T have been greatl}' assisted by the journals of Comrades Parker, Warner, Saddler and Captain Mansfield. Also by extracts from the diaries of Captains Cumings and Wilcox and the remarkable series of letters, something- near a hundred in all, written during the service by Com- missary Sergeant Gribson to his wife. Lieutenant Forbis has given me the benefit of his recollections in regard to the experiences of our foragers and the religious ele- ment in the life of the regiment. Comrades Griste, Wm. O. Smith, Nesbitt, and many others have by correspon- dence and othei'wise rendered material service in the prep- aration of the work. To all I desire to express m}' hearty thanks. To the newspaper history of the regiment prepared by Comrade Chas K. Radclitl'c I am under great obligation for lightening many labors. B}' some slip of memory the biographical sketch accompanying his portrait all udes to him as having been captured with the forage-train, though he was not one of that detail. For the preparation of the Roster and Tables giving all the details of the service of each man with an accurac}', fullness and completeness, hardlj' ever attempted. I am under the greatest oljligation to Comrades Parker and May- nard, the two men whose personal knowledge was most extensive, perhaps, of the personnel of the regiment, who kindly gave of their time and labor to carry out the plan devised. I am. also, under especial obligation to Comrade Maynard, as Secretary- of the Survivors" Association of the regiment. I beg to acknowledge the great service which the "His- tor}' of the Seventj'-fifth Indiana,'' so long our brigade- companion, written by Rev. B. Flojxl, has been in the preparation of this work. Acknowledgment is especially due to Senator John P. Jones of Nevada for books and maps Avithout which the PREFACE. accomplishment of the work would have been well-nigh im- possible. Also, to the Adjutant-General of Ohio, who kindly placed the records of his office at my disposal and to Mr. Arthur R. Warren who copied the original muster rolls there on file for the correction of the Roster. Also to Major Stoddard Johnston, who was a member of the staff of Gi-eneral Braxton Bragg of the confederate army, for valuable suggestions touching the campaign in Kentucky. The Itinerary showing the location of the regiment dur- ing every day of its service, was made up from the journal of Comrade L. N. Parker, in some instances corrected and mademoi-e definite by comparison with the journal of Com. rade Joseph R. Warner. Both of these journals are well- worthy of being printed without note or comment, as interest- ing memorials of experience recorded at the time the events narrated occurred. The Itinerary is believed to be as correct as it can be made. One difficulty experienced in preparing the history of this regiment, has been a singular lack of reports of its movements and service. No reports are accessible, if they were made, of the part it took in the Tullahoma campaign, the Chickamauga campaign. Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea or the campaign in the Caro- linas. Major Edwards is confident that he made a report of the Chickamauga engagement and it is bej'ond question that Col. Tolles must have made a report of Missionar}- Ridge; but it has been impossible to get sight of either. The for- mer was probably among papers lost-by the transfer of General Reynolds from the command of the division to the place of chief of staff to General Thomas. The excellent portrait of General Thomas, was loaned by Messrs Coates & Co. , of Phila- delphia, whose large engraving is no doubt the best portrait in existence of our old commander. The illustration -'The Bummers" is from that exquisite collection of war pictures entitled -'Bullet and Shell" by Major Williaius, illustrated by Edwin Forbes and published by Fords, Howard and Hulbert, New York. PREFACE. The maps of Perryville and the vicinity of Chatta- nooga, were re-drawn from the official charts, b}' Mr. Leon J. Robbins, the gifted son of Adjutant Robbins. The other ilhistrations not direct reproductions, and the illumin- ated initials are the gratuitous work of Miss Aimee Tourgee, the author's daughter, who also supervised the reproduction of photographs, many of which required to be re-touched before being available. It is possible that some ma}' be surprised at the absence of amusing narratives of personal experience more of less reliable, which so often form a considerable portion of such works. In explanation of this fact, I can only say that I carefully treasured up all such incidents reported to me l)y ray comrades and found so large a proportion of them had long since become stock-anecdotes of war litera- ture that they seemed likely to arouse a suspicion of plag- iarism. The truth is, that this mass of war anecdotes has grown so large that it is hard to designate just where the line of proprietorship runs; 1 have, therefore, been rather chary of their use, confining myself to some cases of un- questionable originality. Survivors will note that one un- pleasant incident has been wholl}' omitted. This was done from a conviction both that no good could result from its consideration and also because the person most affected b}" it, was, in some sense, the victim of a conspiracy not credit- able to those concerned in it. Moreover, as the record shows, he subsequenth' removed ihe imputation resting upon him b}' gallant service. It was the purpose of the author to give an account of the District Committee who had charge of recruiting in the XlXth Congressional District of Ohio. To secure the nec- essary data he addressed letters to parties in each of the counties asking them to procure photographs and such in- formation as was available regarding the memi)ers of said committee. For some reason quite inexplicable to him, there seemed to be but little interest in the matter. He was unable to secure anything like a full account of their woi'k and not wishing to pul)lish an imperfect one. PREFACE. the whole matter was omitted. The work of these vohmtar}' organizations ought not to be h)st siglit of in making up the history of that epoch, but a defective account would be sure to do injustice to all. The omission of any specific account of those who suf- fered in the southern prisons is due to two things. The writer exerted himself to the utmost in connection with Comrade L. Newton Parker to secure from each of the surviving prisoners of Andersonville, and other prisons, an account of their experience. Being himself, one of the three ofHcers of the regiment who had such experience, he did fdr a time, contemplate writing an account of the same. When he came to consider it more fully, however, he concluded that it would savor too much of the personal to be compatible with the general tone of the work. To do so would have required him to go into the whole question of the treatment of prisoners, which at this day, could be of little interest and no value. One thought in connection with it ma}' be ventured; the Union soldier who was held as a prisoner of war for any time has the consolation of knowing that by keeping a confederate of equal rank, out of the service, he was, on account of the disparity of numbers, doing even greater service to the Union cause than he would probably have done had he remained in his place. x\s to the treatment of Union prisoners, he regards the subject as one not profitable to be considered within such limits as could reasonabl}' 1)6 allowed it in this work. The printing was done by Messrs. S. McGerald & Son of Buflalo, N. Y., under very embarrassing circumstances, in a manner which speaks for itself. The work has been delayed by sickness and the stress of financial conditions which have rendered its manufacture exceedingly difficult. The same would have been impossible but for the liberality of Colonel G-eorge T. Perkins. The writer undertook the work with diffidence ; he has spared no pains in its execution, and whatever its defects may be, he can only say it is the best that he was able to do. Mayville, N. Y., Dec. 1, 1895. THE AUTHOR. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. The Muster In 1 II. The Cause of Strife 10 III. Recruiting 20 IV. The Rank and File 27 V. The Sword Bearers 36 VI. The Theater of War 45 VII. On Southern Soil 59 VIII. The Hell-March 65 IX. The School of Double-duty 96 X. The Baptism of Fire 108 XI. Between the Acts 137 XII. A Stirring Winter 154 XIII. A Midwinter Campaign 163 XIV. Gobbled 175 XV. Milton 187 XVI. A Midsummer Jaunt 197 XVII. A Wasted Opportunity 205 XVIII. A Tumultuous Sabbath 222 XIX. The Ebb of Battle 234 XX. The Siege of Chattanooga 242 XXI. Battle of Lookout Mountain 270 XXII. Battle of Missionary Ridge 279 XXIII. After Missionary Ridge 290 XXIV. The Battle Summer 299 XXV. In Pursuit of Hood 319 -- XXVI. '-From Atlanta to the Sea" 332 ►' XXVII. The Guidons Point Northward 347 XXVIII. Our Foragers 353 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXIX. The End of Strife 368 XXX. The Homestretch 377 XXXI. Religious Character 385 XXXII. Thirty Years After 393 ItineraiT 307 APPENDIX. I. Report of Colonel Albert S. Hall i. II. Concerning Cannon Captured iii. III. Extract from the Report of Major-Generil Absalom Baird on the Atlanta Campaign... v. IT. Extract from the Report of Col. Gleason on the Atlanta Campaign vi. T. CojDy of Discharge from Naval Service vii. VI. Farewell Order of General Sherman vii. VII. Biographical Sketch, Wm. O. Smith viii. Viii. Explanation of Roster and Tables ix. Roster and Tables xi. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Albert S. Hall 3 Jerry Whetstone, Co. H 8 Col. William R . Tolles 11 Col. George T. Perkins 15 Maj. Charles G. Edwards 21 Capt. Greorge L. Riker 28 Corp. Wm. 0. Smith, Co. K 34 Capt. Alfred G. Wilcox 37 Corp. Luman G. Griste 39 Private C. K. Radcliffe, Co. F 41 Marshall W. Wright, R. Q. M 46 Sergt Joseph R . Warner, Co. G 60 William J. Gibson, Com. Sergt 62 Corp. Robt. A. Rowlee, Co. C 68 Sergt. John F. Humistou, Co. E 71 Coip. Bliss Morse, Co. D 86 The Quartermaster 1 03 Lieut. H. H. Cumings, 1863 121 Adjt. A. M. Robbins 125 Capt. L. Dwight Kee 128 Capt. H. H. Cumings 138 Corp. N. L. Gage 144 H. E. Paine, Musician 147 "A Veteran" 154 Capt. Riker, 1863 159 Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds 161 Lieut. Henrj" Adams 165 Capt. Ephraim Kee 168 Lieut. Albert Dickerman 171 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Capt. Bj^ron W. Canfield 178 Lieut. Alonzo Chubb 182 Sergt. L. N. Parker, 1863 187 Comrade L. Newton Parker 190 Surgeon John Turnbull 198 Capt. Andrew D. Braden 200 M. L. Maynard, Mus 201 " Soldiers Three ■' 208 Gen. George H. Thomas 212 Col. Edward A. King 214 Capt. E. Abbott Spaulding 219 Sergt. Benj. T. Cushing 224 Sergt. E. J. Clapp 230 Capt. J. C. Hartzell 236 E.R. Cowles 240 Capt. Horatio M. Smith 243 Lieut. Alden F. Brooks 247 Lieut. Norman D. Smith 250 Lieut. Ira F. Mansfield 252 Sergt. J. R. Warner, 1890 265 Capt. Wallace, 1863 270 Capt. William Wallace, 1894 271 Capt. D. B. Stambaugh 273 On the Crest of Lookout 279 Major-Gen. Absalom Baird 281 Col. William R. Tolles 283 Sergt. E. Patchin 286 Sergt. George D.Elder 292 Capt. A. C. Mason 300 Sergt. J. A. McNaughton 303 Lieut. James Crays 311 Corp. Joseph W. Torrence 321 Lieut. W. H. Castle 328 Capt. R. G. Morgaridge 349 Sergt. M. A. Teachout 351 Lieut. William H. Forbis 354 "The Bummers" 360 LI6T OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Corp. W. K. Mead 371 Corp. Michael E. Hess 374 '' The Honorary Secretarj- " 380 Monument of the 105th 0. V. 1 382 Lieut. Charles A. Brigden 387 Corp. John McNaughton 390 Capt. Braden 393 Twenty Years After 394 Albion W. Tourgee 395 Col. George T. Perkins, 1863 397 Adjt. Albert Dickerman, 1863 397 LIST OF AIAPS. Battle of Perryville, Ky Page 122 Battle of Milton, Tenn Page 188 Chattanooga and Vicinity Between pages 202 and 203 The Atlanta Campaign Page 306 RECORD OF SERVICE. Perryville, October 8, 18(52. Milton, March 20, 1862. Hoover's Gap, June 24, 1863. Chickamauga, September 19 — 20, 1863. Siege of Chattanooga, September 23 — November 25, 1863. Missionary Kidge, November 25, 1863. Resaca, May 14— 15, 1864. Kenesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864. Siege of Atlanta, July — August 1864. Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864. Ezra Church, July 27, 1864. Jonesborough, September 1, 1864. Pursuit of Hood, October 1864. March to the Sea, November — December 1864. Campaign in the Carolinas, February-March 1865. Johnstons Surrender, April 26, 1865. ^ THE 5T0RY OF A THOUSAND. THK MUSTKH IN. " The bayonets were a thousand, And the swords were thirty-seven, When we took the oath of service, With our right-hands raised to Heaven." T was the twentj'-first day of August, 1862, when our story opens. On that day the Thousand became a unit. The scene is a neglected common near the cit}' of Cleve- hmd in the State of Ohio. It is called University Heights now — then, it was officially known as "Camp Taylor." Its surroundings were squalid. Pigs and thistles abounded. A dozen or two long, low build- ings, a guard line and a flagstaff constituted the camp. The buildings were one-story affairs, made of rough hem- lock ; for the most part, they were sixty feet in length and twenty in width. On each side were rows of bunks, six feet long by three and one-half feet wide, with an eight-inch board running along the front to keep the occupants from rolling out. They were quaint-looking troughs, filled witli nothing, save air and splinters ; but they were new and clean and sweet, those we occupied, at least — with the breath of the forest and the dust of the sawmill about them. The amber of the riven hemlock oozed out and 2 THE STORY OF A Til US AM). trickled down in sticky streaks as the hot summer sun beat upon the yellow roofs and sides. It is ten o'clock. The sun glares fiercely down, though there is a breeze from the north that keeps the flag upon the high mast, near the entrance of the camp, softly wav- inir its lirisfht benison above its crude surroundinus. Oli beautiful banner ! what desert doth it not make bright ! How many have its gleaming folds lured on to death ! How often glazing orbs have turned lovingly up to it their last glance ! The fifes and drums have ceased to sound. The parade is formed — after a fashion. Two straggling, uncertain lines of unarmed, l)lue-clad men stretch across the uneven field ; a group of musicians, with a few fifes and drums, are in their places on the right ; the men stand at parade rest, with hands clasped loosely before them ; the sun beats hot on the glowing napes, which the military caps, just donned foi" the first time, have left unprotected — the sweat-drops creep down hot, flushed faces ; many an eye wanders long- ingly to the blue, sparkling waves of Lake Erie, of which one might catch a distant glimpse. A man in the uniform of a captain of the United States Army and one in the uniform of a colonel of Volunteers pass along the line, halting here and there, while a clerk calls the names of each company and checks the same upon the rolls, which are carried by an orderly. There are fre- quent discussions, in which the company's officers take part. Men are shifted from one company to another, until finally all are in their proper places. There is about the line that uneasiness and uncertainty of pose which marks the untrained soldier, and that general looseness of forma- tion which is inseparable from a parade without arms. When the required changes have been made, the man in the uniform of the Regular Army takes his place in front of the center of the line ; behind him, his clerk and or- derly, and beside him the man in a colonel's uniform. " Attention ! " THE MUSTER-IN. Albert S. Hall. Albeut S. Hall, the first and only man commi.'ssioned and mustered as colonel of the 105th regiment of Ohio Volunteers, was born in Charleston, Portage county, Ohio, in 1830. of which town his grandfather was one of the Hrst settlers. He was educated in the district schools of that county and at Geauga Seminary, Chester, Ohio, supporting himself by teaching. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1853. and located in Jefferson. Ashtabula county. In ia53 he was chosen prosecuting attorney of said county and agaia in 1 air. In 1859 he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, but returned to his native State in 1860. and settled in W^arren, Trumbull county. Upon the call for volunteers in April, 1861, he began to raise a company, and early in June was mustered in as captain of Company F of the 20th O. V. L The regimoni 4 thf: story of a thousand. The long, blue line sways and rustles as the men straighten themselves into a more or less correct position, take touch of elbows, glance right and left to secure a bet- ter alignment, and wonderingly gaze to the front to see what will happen nest. A group of spectators, among whom ai-e a few ladies, who carry parasols, stand in front of the right wing. They are evidently interested in what is going on. 8ome of them intercept the mustering officer's view of that part of the line ; he orders them back, but the group is a considerable one and do not understand what is wanted of them. ■ An orderly is sent to repeat the command and see that it is obeyed. The crowd fall back willingly but won- deringly. Then the officer explains that, when the com- mand is given, each one whose name has been called — officers and men alike — will take off his cap with the left hand and holding up his right one, with the open palm to the front, repeat after him the oath of service. Then came the command: >' Hats oft!" left Camp Chase on July 26, 1861. The first engagement was the battle of Cheat Mountain, W. Va. Captain Hall served through that campaign, and on the i;oth of December, 1861, was commissioned major. His regiment was transferred to the Army of the Mississippi and was engaged in the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862. Near the close of the second day's fight, being then in command of hi.s regiment, he received a gunshot wound some two inches above the eyebrow. The wound was a severe one, and before he was able to rejoin his regiment again, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and on the 12th of June following, appointed colonel of the 10.5th. After the battle of Perryville, he was for eight days in command of the Tenth Division of the Army of Ohio, being the senior oftlcer of the division after that disastrous fight \intil General C. C. Gilbert was assigned to its command. After that time, he commanded the Thirty-third Brigade until the organization of tht^ Army of the Cumberland, November 30, 1862. After this, he continued in the ■command of the same brigade then known as the Second Brigade, Fifth Division Hth Army Corps, until his death. He was in independent command • on several raids and at the battle of Milton, Tennessee, where he repuLsed the. Confederate General John H. Morgan in command of superior numbers, with great loss. He was attacked with typhoid fever, about the 20th of June. 1863, complicated with the effects of his old wound, of which he died on the 10th of July succeeding, at Murfreesborough, Tennessee. His son, the Hon. Charles L,. Hall, is at present (1895), a Judge of the District Court of Nebraska. Colonel Hall was an officer of untiring energy, a strict disciplinarian, and had ihis life been spared would no doubt have achieved very high distinction in the service. The above engraving is from a crayon portrait by Lieutenant Alden F. IJrooks, now a distinguished artist of Chicago. THE MUSTER- IN. 5 There is a scuffling in the ranks, each one hxjking to see if his neighbor has obeyed. A good many take otl" the cap with right hand and liave to shift it to the left. The crowd titters at the many mistakes. " Hands up ! " Some raise tiie right liand and some the left. The officers look around and correct mistakes. Near the middle of the line an intensely red head shows nigh a foot above the line of other heads on either side, and a red-bearded face looks calmly over the head of the officer, whose station is directly in his front. " Steady ! "' commands the Regular Army officer, run- ning his eye sharply along the wavering, ill-dressed line. "Get down!" he says, as his eye reaches the red head that overtops its neighbors. The red face turns one way and the other in wondering search of what has awak- ened the officer's displea&Jire. All the other faces in the line turn also. " You man in the Fifth Companv there, with the red beard, get down off that stump ! ' A titter runs along the line. Everyone knows what has happened. A shout goes up from the spectators. Some of the officers laugh. The Colonel steps forward and says something in an undertone to the mustering officer. The officer looks foolish. The red-bearded face ducks a few inches nearer the line of heads about it. The face is redder than ever. It was not Jerry Whetstone's fault that his comrades only came up to his shoulder. Yet. manv thousand times on the march and in the camp — before he marches up the Avenue, in the grand review, with his un- erring rifle all out of line with the pieces of the little squad which are all that remains of the company — will the great, good-natured giant be exhorted to >' Get off that stump ! " And not once will the injunction fail to raise a laugh, no matter how weary those may be who hear it. •6 THE STORY OF A THOUSANB. When the merriment has subsided, the officer directs that ull repeat with him the oath of service, each giviuo- his own name when the officer should repeat his : "I, James R. Paxton,' — A wave of confused murmurs rose from the long lines, " — Do solemnly swear," — continued the officer. The response was heavier and more uniform than before. " — That I will bear true faith and allegiance — "' Firm and full came the thousand-fold echo. •" — To the United States of America — "" An exultant shout went up. •• That I will serve them honestly and faithfully — "' How earnest the solemn pledge! '• Against all their enemies, whomsoever — "' How soon was trial of their sincerity to be made! •'That I will obey the orders of the President of the United States — " What greater privilege could await one! •' And of the officers appointed over me — '" Obedience is a soldier's duty! " — According to the Rules and Articles of War! " What did they include? No matter! There was a brief pause and the mustering officer added — '• So help me God! '" A solemn reverent murmur came in response. Then the officer said, with that mixture of smartness and dignity with which a well-disciplined man performs an important routine act: '• — By authority vested in me, I, James R. Paxton, Captain of the Fifteenth lufantr}' and Mustering Officer of the Department of Ohio, do hereby declare the officers and men of the 105th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry duly mustered into the service of the United States, to serve for the period of three years or during the war, unless sooner discharged! " THE MUSTER-rX. 7 Hardly had the words escaped his lips when the drums rolled, the spectators cheered; the flag was dipped upon the mast; the oue gun beside the gate flred a clamorous salute; caps were swung in air, and with the oath of ser- vice fresh on their lips, and their right hands 3'et uplifted, the newly-constituted regiment cheered — itself ! It must have been itself, since there was nothing else for them to cheer. The sun shone on the bared heads; men clasped each other's hands in earnest gratulation, and there was a hint of tears upon many glistening lids! The colonel, who had hitherto stood beside the mus- tering officer, now took two steps forward, drew his sword from its sheath, brought it smartly to the shoulder, and with a voice rarely excelled for smoothness and evenness of tone, and perhaps unequalled in the whole army for dis- tinctness and carrying power, commanded: •• Atten — tion! One Hundred and Fifth — Ohio! '" Was it admiration for the soldierly figure, so strik- ingly resembling in form and feature the portraits of the great Napoleon, the thrill of that marvellous voice they were to hear so often when other voices were unable to pierce the din of strife, or the exquisite modulation which even in command complimented those who stood before him on their newly assumed character, that so quickly hushed the turmoil? An hour before they had been merely a thousand men; now they were "The One Hundred and Fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry.'" and a part of that Grand Army which Liberty threw across the path of secession, slavery and revolt which threatened the nations life. All this and more, was conveyed by subtle intonation in the colonels first command. There was an instant's silence, after each man had restored his cap to its place and stifl'ened himself into the j)osition of the soldier. Then there was another spontaneous outburst. This time it was the colonel who was cheered. He acknowledged it with a salute, and then commanded sharply and sternly: •' Attention — -to orders! '' THE STORY OF A TJIOi'SANI). A smart young orticer who had stood u little to the rem- of the Colonel, stepped briskly iiround him, advanced to a position midway between him and the Hues and drew a package of papers from uis belt. At the same time the Colonel commanded " Parade Rest! " The Adjutant read an order, announcing that "Albert S. Hall, having been appointed Colonel of the 105th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, hereby assumes com- mand of the same. ■' Then he read another order, aunounc- iag the field and stalf, and the assignment of line oHicers to the various companies of said regi- ment. All listened intently to this, the first official promulgation of a military order, that most of them ever heard. When the organization was completed, another order was read that sent a thrill of won- dering surprise through every one who heard it. It was a telegram from the Cumberland. Governor: "Colonel Albert S. Hall, 105th O. \. I. The enemy have invaded Kentuck}'. You will report with your regiment to Major-General H. G. Wright, com- manding Department of Ohio, at Cincinnati, without an instant's delay. Camp and garrison equipage will be for- warded to meet you there. p^^^j, rj,^^ Governor. • It was high noon when the ranks were broken. Sixty minutes afterwards, the regiment was on the march to the depot, and two hours later, was being whirled avvay to the theater of war. It takes one's Ijreath away, in these days of peace, when the soldier is recalled only as a pensioner, who is Jerry Whetstone, Co. H. Six feet seven inches in height" The tallest man in the army of the THE MUSTER- IN. 9 counted ;i thankless burden to the government, to think that men were hurried forward, unarmed, without an hours instruction in their new duties, to be placed across the path of a victorious enemy. But nothing seemed sur- prising then, and if any were inclined to murmur, an instinctive sense of duty overbore their discontent. Yet if ever a soldier has a right to complain when once the oath of service has passed his lips, these men surely had. It was but eight days since the first of them had left their homes; but forty-six of their number had ever seen an iiour's service; hardly half of the companies had had more than three or four hours of drill, and one of them, at least, only one hour! But nothing was strange in those days of miracle and self-forgetfulness! If there was any disposition to complain it was voiced only when they found themselves blamed for lacking the discipline they were given no opportunity to acquire. II. THK CAUSE OK STRIFE. " 'Tis the motive enfiime.s, nut the beggarly pri/.e, The spirit that lives, the base guerdon that dies." HE cutises from which events result are often of greater con- sequence than the events them- selves. Nations and peoples, like individuals, act always from motives; and collective motives, like personal ones, may be either good or bad. Peoples differ from individuals, however, in one thing, — they are always sin- cere. They may desire a good thing or a bad one, but there is no question of bad faith in the demand for which men offer their lives upon the field of bat- tle. Words may be false; lead- ers may seek to deceive; but • what a people write in blood upon the page of history, is always true. It is because of this that the comparative importance of historical events depends very little upon their physical extent, but almost wholly upon the motives of the actors or the sentiment they represent. Only a few times was the conduct of the Tiiousand, considered of itself, of any special importance; only once was it pivotal of the issue of a great event. But why U) THE CAUSE OF STRIFE. 11 TOLLKS. WILLIAM RANSOM TOLLKS was bom m Watertown Ct., April 18^^ His D'lrents removed to Burton, Geauga County, O., while he ^va.•, a lad. He fame of s uX^^Jew England stocU, and after obtaining a common school duration, ^ee'arly engaged in business, and up to the -^breaU o he w^ «as active in the promotion of P-bUc and private enterprises m the counU ^ He was a merchant in Burton for many years. After the death of his wife a Jau^hter Tf Judge Hitchcock, he disposed of his business, being considerably SenTn heaU? and traveled through the South, as the agent of hrms doing 12 THE IS TORY OF A THOUSAND. these men took the oath of service, what manner of men they were, and what controlling impulse they typified, tliese things are of deathless import, for on them the destiny of a nation liung and the character of a people s civilization depended. l)u.siness there, until just before the beginning of hostilities. He was greatly disturbed over the condition of affairs, especially regarding the general idea that the war would be one of short duration. He was one of the first to volunteer, and was made captain of Company P, 41st O. V. I. He participated \n all the operations of this regiment, and often expressed himself peculiarly grateful that his first experience of army life was under so strict and thorough a disciplinarian as its commander, Colonel, afterwards Major- General William B. Hazen. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 10.=sth, he carried to the performance of its duties a painstaking conscientiousness, which though at times, irksome, contributed not a little to the excellence of drill and discipline for which it was noted throughout its term of service. The command of the regiment was thrown upon him by the command of the Tenth Division being cast on Colonel Hall by the death of his superiors at the battle of Perry ville, on the 48th day of the regiment's service, and his continuance in command of the brigade thereafter. From that time until the middle of June, 1863, Colonel Tolles was in command of the regiment and was untiring in promoting its drill and discipline. He was unable to serve in the advance from Murfreesborough, but rejoined at Chattanooga, just in time for the battle of Missionary Ridge, which was the fitting climax of his military career. No nobler figure is to be found in that most spectacular of battles than this gallant soldier riding his black horse up that flame-swept slope, keeping his eye on his regiment and constantly directing its movements. His health constantly grew worse, and on January 29, 1864, the indomitable will was forced to relinquish the hope of farther service, and he resigned. After his health was somewhat regained, he removed to Locata, Mich., where he remained for several years, during which time he remarried. His health again failing he removed to the San Bernardino Valley, Cal., where he con- tinued to reside, highly honored and esteemed until his death, on December — , 1893. As an officer, he was an excellent disciplinarian and a splendid tactician. Somewhat irritable, somewhat hasty, and as a consequence, not always just, there was no one under his command who doubted his unselfish patriotism or his intense desire that the regiment should excel in every soldierly quality and achievement. As a man he was exquisitely sensitive, and no doubt often mistook the jests of his men, and so failed to appreciate the affection and esteem they had for him. There are those who will recall the fact that the personal relations between Colonel Tolles and Lieutenant Tourgee were not such as would seem consistent with the above estimate of his character. No doubt, his ill health had much to do with the prejudices which he entertained, which were in many cases, as he afterwards explained to the writer, strengthened by false reports from others. While it would be absurd to claim that the wrong is for- gotten, the writer can truly say that all sense of resentment has passed away !^.nd the estimate he gives of the character of Colonel Tolles, is that to which he believes him to have been act jally entitled. He had his faults but they were subordinate incidents rather than controlling elements of his character THE VAISE OF STRIFE. 13 Where a Ijattle is fought and when ; wlio are the opposing commanders ; what strategic movements preceded it ; what tactical methods were employed ; how many of the contestants were slain; which army prevailed, and which was put to rout, — all these are in-significant details. Whether ten or ten thousaml lives were lost is of little consequence. In half a dozen years of growth and bloom, nature will have hidden all trace of the encounter. The rain will wash away the blood ; the grass will hide the bleached bones ; the trees will shadow the graves ; the waving grain will obliterate the track of charging squad- rons. In like manner, nature's recuperative power will soon fill up the gaps in the world's life. A decade, two decades at the farthest, and the most skillful statistician cannot trace anything of war's havoc in the tables of mor- tality. But why they fought; why men were mangled and slain ; why a thousand or a million men risked their lives in deadly strife ; which impulse prevailed and which was forced to yield, — these are questions of the utmost con- cern, for they may indicate the character of a people, and involve the destiny of unnumbered millions yet unborn. History, in the past, has concerned itself with aggregations and events. It has told us how "The King of France, with twice ten thousand men, Marched up the hill, — and then marched down again." The history of the future will be more concerned to know why the "twice ten thousand" followed the crowned braggart "up the hill," than in the reasons that inclined them to march "down again," — it will deal with causes rather than with events. A year and a half before the time of which we write, one of the most momentous events in history had occurred. The great American republic had suddenly fallen asunder. Almost in an instant, eleven states had formally declared the territory of each withdrawn from the control of the Federal union, and their people released from allegiance to the Government of the United States. Almost simultane- ]4 THE STORY OF A THOU SAN J). ously witn the act of withdrawal, these states had, with equal formality, banded themselves together and formed what they called " The Confederate States of America." a new government composed of eleven contiguous states,, having the same boundaries, the same integral character,, and, in most cases, the same officials, as when they were constituent parts of the Federal union. In a hundred days from the time the first rift appeared, the revolution was complete. A territory nearly ecjual in extent to all Europe, out- side of the Empire of Russia, having a population of twelve million souls, had been cut out of the domain pre- viously claimed and occupied by the United States, and erected into a de facto government, complete in all its parts, without the firing of a gun or the shedding of a drop of blood! Only three forts upon its utmost borders still bore the flag of the Union! Of all the miracles of revolution, there have been none like it for boldness of conception, extent, completeness, rapidity of execution, and absolutely bloodless character. On the twentieth of December, 1860, South Carolina passed the ordinance of secession. On Februar}' 4, 1861, forty- five days afterwards, the Provisional Congress met, — six states were represented in it. On the eighth, a constitu- tion was adopted; on the ninth, a president was chosen; on the fourteenth, another state was added; on the eight- eenth, the president was inaugurated. Before the month was ended, the executive departments and an arm}' and navy were organized. Thus far, the tide of revolution had met with no resistance from within, and no movement of repression from without. How was such marvel made possible ? Volumes have been written in explanation. Yet, a few words will suffice to make it clear. There had grown up within the Union, two peoples. They called themselves "the North" and -'the South." The one believed that "all men were created equal and THE nAUSE OF STRrFK. 1.-) ('(•L. (rKOKliK T. PeKKIXS. Geokue Tod Perkins was born near the city of Akron, O., May 5, 1836 on a farm afterwards occupied for some years by Jotin Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame. His parents; were Simon and Grace Tod Perkins His grand- father on the maternal side was the first Chief Justice of Ohio, and father of her great war governor, David Tod. On the paternal side his great-grand- father was a captain in the war of the Revolution, and his grandfather a brigadier-general in the war of 1813. He was educated in the public schools of Akron and at Marietta College. At the outbreak of the war he w^as engaged in the iron busine.ss at Youngs town, O., in company with his uncle, Hon. David Tod. soon afterwards elected governor. With such an ancestry it was inevitable that he should be among the first to respond to the call to arms, and it is characteristic of the man. the section 1(5 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. endowed witli certuin inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The other believed that such rights attached onl}' to white men, and that colored men were entitled only to such privileges as the white people of any particular state might see fit to confer upon them. One section was composed of what were termed free-states; the other of what were known as slave-states. Between them, slavery dug a deep, almost impassable gulf. The lines of interstate migration i-an chiefly from east to west. The South peopled the new states of the southwest; the North sent its sons and daughters to shape the sentiment of the northwest. Only the poor of the South fled into the free northwest, to escape the blight which slavery put upon the opportunity from which he came, and the spirit of the time, that a young man of inde- pendent means and influential connections, such as he possessed, should have enlisted as a private soldier in Company B 19th O. V. I., in the three months' service. The men of his company afterwards elected him its 2d lieutenant. He participated with his regiment in the West Virginia campaigns, under McClellan, the same being especially prominent in the battle of Rich Moun- tain. Mustered out at the end of the three months' service, he once more took up the routine of business. In 1862, upon the call for " three hundred thousand more," he laid down his pen; applied to his uncle, the Governor, for a commission, and was appointed major of the 105th. He served as such until the advance from Murfreesborough. in June, 1863, when the command of the regiment fell upon him by reason of Colonel ToUes' absence. He held it from that time until the regiment was mustered out. He was promot.d to lieutenant-colonel, to date from the death of Colonel Hall, July 10, 1863: to colonel, February 18, 1864, but not mustered because the regiment was below the minimum required for a full set of field officers. He was made brevet - lieutenant-colonel, March 13, 186.^, and was mustered out in command. He participated in nearly all its operations; was severely wounded at Chicka- mauga. and had three horses killed under him, one at Pcrryville, one at Chickamauga, and one on the New Hope Church line, near Big Shanty, Ga. As an officer he was quiet, unostentatious, and especially noted for his unremitting care for the health and comfort of those under his command. He married soon after the close of the war and settled in business in Akron, where he has remained ever since. He has been so successful a manufactui er and banker that he is now about to retire from business. He has one daughter and two grandchildren, without which he declares, "No home is well-furnished." Colonel Perkins is regarded with peculiar fondness by thr? survivors of his regiment, whose re-unions he always attends: but such is his modesty tnat few would imagine that he was its commanding officer for two years of active service. He has always been active in educational and municipal affairs. He is a member of the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion. TJIh] VAi'SE OF STIilh'H. 17 of the white laborer : ouly those vvlio looked lor special pecuniary advantage from speculation, skilled employment, or mechanical superintendence, went from the North to the South. In but thx-ee of the states of the North, was one- tentli of the population of soutliern birth in 1860; in not one of the Southern States was one-fiftieth of the popula- tion of northern birth. The two tides of life had flowed on from east to west, side by side, having one language, one religion, one name, but only mingling a little at the edges Po dissimilar were they, that one said, from his place in the Senate that year: "There are two hostile bodies on this floor, which are but types of the feeling that exists between the two sections. We are enemies as much as if we were hostile states. I believe the northern people hate the South worse than the English ever hated the French, and there is no love lost on the part of the South." The cleavage, which first showed in the establishment of the Confederacy, had long existed in the characters of the two peoples and the divergent institutions of the two sections. The laws, customs and institutions of the Nortli were shaped by freemen in the furnace-heat of free-thought and free-speech. The public-school was everwhere ; op- portunity was untrammeled. The institutions, laws and policy of the South were shaped by slave -owners to pro- mote the interests of the slave-holders ; the free-laborer was despised. Every official belonged to the slave-owning class ; free-schools were unknown ; free-speech was re- pressed by the law and the mob. To proclaim liberty was a crime in half the states of the republic; to teach a slave to read or write, a felony. The North had come to hate slavery as a sin against Grod and a crime against man ; the South counted the right to enslave inherent in the white race, by Divine ordainment, and resented the feeling against it at the North as the result of envy and malice. They regarded the constitution as a compact between tiie States, specially intended for the preservation of tills insti- IS rilK i^TOllY (JF A THOUHAM). tutiou. The people of the North generally regarded it as an agreement between the people of the several States for tlie l)enefit of all the people. There were, also, two contllcting views of government which became potent factors in this miracle of seemingly peaceful dismemberment. One insisted that the Govern- ment of the United States was a nation established by the people, and having all the powers of self-preservation, con- trol of its citizens and defense of its territory, which are inci- dent to sovereignty. The other insisted that the United States were only a federation, a pact between the several states, each one of whicii remained sovereign and might at will withdraw from the Union ; and that allegiance to the state was paramount. The southern man regarded every effort to re-establish the power of the general government as not only a blow at the rights of his State, l)ut an invasion of her soil, as well as her sovereignty. The border Southern States still hesitated, more from fear of the consetiuences to themselves than from any lack of sympathy with the principle or purpose ot secession. The State-Sovereignty sentiment of the North and the dread that a people especially de- voted to the arts of peace had of intestine war, kept the North silent and the government passive. Neither section appreciated the qualities of the people of the other. The North thought the people of the South were mere braggarts ; the South thougiit those of the North were mercenary cowards. The one regarded the new government as a piece, of bravado, a mere bubble. intended to extort concessions. The other looked upon the apathy of the North as conclusive evidence that it would make no resistance to dismemberment. Thus, the two sec- tions, long before estranged and separated by tendencies which raised a more insuperalile barrier between them than ^ea or mountain could offer, taunted and jeered each other, both unconscious of the t)loody destiny that la}' l)efore them. One counted it an immutable truth that all men had a right to be free, and regarded tlie other as an THE ilAUHK OA' STRIFK. 19 aggressor iigMUist this universal liberty; the other believed the white iniin's right to enslave to be indisputable, and counted any imputation of this theory an invasion of in- dividual privilege and collective prerogative. So, two peoples, acknowledging two governments, regarded eacli other askance over an intervening belt known as the "border states," whose people were divided in sentiment, some clinging to the old and others welcoming the new. Thus the country stood vaguely expectant, when, on the twelfth day of April, ISGl, the guns of the new Govern- ment opened on the flag of the old which waved over Fort Sumter. Instantly, the shadows which had blinded the people of both sections were lifted. All saw the gulf which separated them. The North sprang to arms ; the South exulted in the opportunity that lay before it to teach its ancient enemy the lesson of its superiority. The border states hastened to declare their preference. Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee went with the new Confed- eracy, making eleven states which acknowledged its su- premacy. Kentucky and Missouri remained with tlie old Thiion, formally, at least, Init it was with a divided senti- ment, which extended a hand to each of the opposing civ- ilizations. So the battle was joined between slavery and " state- ^;overeignty" on one side, and liberty and nationality on the other. The conflict was between two peoples, one regard- ing the other as rebels, and esteemed, in turn, by them as invaders. Each, from its own point of view, was right ; each, from the other's point of view, was wrong. Precisely what " the fathers '■ meant by the words of the constitu- tion will never be definitely known. What an overruling providence intended, the outcome of strangely-ordered events leave us not in doubt. Which of these two con- trasted impulses was technically right in its construction of the instrument which both cited in support of their action, will ever be a mooted problem; which stood for justice, the rights of man and the better civilization, tlie future will not question. III. RECRUITING. OME idea of the times and the character of the people of that day, especially in the region from which the Thou- sand was drawn, can be given by a brief outline of the method b}' which enlistments were secured. Recruiting, up to that time, in the State of Ohio was under the charge of a committee appointed by the Governor, in each Congress- ional District, one man in each county.'- These men not only served without pay but often, perhaps always, at great personal sacrifice. They were usually men of mature years and decided character, Init without politi- cal or selfish ambition. These men. each acting in his own county, with such as he might associate with him. adopted a policy of procedure for the district, assigned the quotas to the different towns, recom- mended officers, and. in short, formed a volunteer council, which was one of the many instances of voluntary organ- ization to assist the government and supply the defects of *— A fuU account of the Military Committee of the !9th District of Ohio will be found in the Appendix. 20 RECRUITING. statuton' provisions, which that period so rich in examples of the strengtii and elticacy of the self-governing idea, can afford. Recrniting was effected V)v the officers tluis appctinted, throuirh personal solicitation and tiie holding of wli.it were Maj. Chas. G. Edwakds. rH4.Bi.ES G. EDWARDS was born at Sodus Point N. Y., May 11. 1^6. Rec-ivcd a good common school education: ^v-as employed as clerk m an importing house in New York City, in 1853; came to Youngstown, Ohio, m 18W where he engaged in the drug business until the tiring on Fort Sumter in 1861 In April of that year he enlisted in Company B, 19th Ohio Infantry in the three months' service. In June, I8fi2. was commissioned Captain of Company A 10.Mh Ohio Volunteer Infantry: was wounded three times at Perryville Ky In May. 1863; was relieved of command of Company A and detailed as acting field officer: was commissioned major .luly 16. 1863. and lieutenant-colonel February 18. 1864. but not mustered because the regimen was below the limit entitling to a lull set of otticers. Was also brexettul 22 THhJ STORY OF A THOUSAND. termed wiir-meetiugs, in connection with tlie county coiu- inittee and with the aid of prominent citizens in the vari- ous towns. No pecuniary inducements were then offered to secure enlistments, save the government bounty of one liuii- dred dollars for three years' service^ and the regular pay of thirteen dollars a month. To have appealed to the sense of personal advantage would have provoked only laughter. The farm-laborer was getting twice as much with board and all home comforts, as the soldier was offered to face the perils of war. Such a thing as treating or other convivial influence was almost wholly unknown as an element of the recruiting- service. Ver}^ few of the young men who recruited the Thousand, had any inclination if they had opportunity, to employ such influences. As a matter of fact, to have done so would have desti'oyed all hope of success, for no Western Reserve mother and ver\' few Western Reserve fathers would have permitted or encouraged their sons to entrust their lives to the control of an officer known to be ;in lial)itual drinker. The writer recruited the larger part of Coinpan}' G, traveling from town to town, holding per- sonal interviews by day and public meetings usually at iijoht. In the month he was engaged in this service he lield more than forty public meetings. Not once was tiie (luestion of personal gain alluded to save in objection by some man who said he could not deprive his family of the earnings needful for their support. Well may they have demurred. Nearly a 3^ear afterwards, one of these men gave the writer thirty-six dollars, three months' pay — lacking three dollars which lie reserved for emergencies — ^and lieutenant-colonel U. S. V.. for "gallantry in the Atlanta campaign." He commanded the regiment after Colonel Perkins was wounded at Chicka- mauga. September 21, 1«63. until the return of Colonel Tolles on November •..'0, 1863. He was also in command of the regiment during the pursuit of Hood, OetoV)er and part of November, 186-1. He was continuously with the regiment except when absent from wounds, and was mustered out with it as major on June 3, 1S6.1, at Washiugton. D. C. He is an active and honored member of the Lioyal Legion, Minnesota Commandery. In 1870 he moved to Minnesota; has served four terms in the legislature as state senator ; was a delegate at large to the National Republican Convention held at Chicago, 1888. In 1889 he was appointed Collector of Customs for the District of Minnesota. liKCRliriXd. 2:5 asktMl Ut luive it expended Un- the henefit of his family. The three months' pay with tiie addition of one dollar and fifty cents, })ouo;ht one calico dress for the wife and one for each of two little girls; one barrel of flonr, fifty ponnds of sngar, one ham, three pounds of tea, a pair of shoes for each, and two cords of wood. This is a fair sample of the relation between the cost of living at that time and the soldier's wages. Few if any of the soldiers' families, in this region at least, suf- fered during the war. Men and women voluntarily taxed their own little surplus to provide for others who had less. Those who could give nothing else gave their time and labor. Wives, mothers and sweethearts who had little to spare looked out for other wives and mothers who had not enough. Tn all the land, there was a feeling of neighbor- ship which has never been equalled — a neighborship which showed how the strain of common peril draws a free people together. If the soldiers' families had l)een dependent on the soldiers' earnings, thousands would have starved. Yet our enemies termed us '• Lincoln's hirelings, " and today the children and grandchildren of those whom we endowed with the rich inheritance of a restored nationality and an undivided national domain, find pleasure and ofttimes profit, in denominating the Federal soldier of a third of :i . century ago, a '-mercenary." As illustrating the character and incentives of tiie men who enlisted in the lO.lth Ohio, the I'oHowing account of one of those -'war-meetings, " furnislied by a corre- spondent may be taken as a sample of man}'. The northern volunteers were mainly men who left their responsibilities, prospects and homes with extreme relivctance and only when they felt tiiat duty :iiid honor imperatively demanded the sacrifice. On the night of August 13, 18()2, a war-meeting was held in the little country village of Orwell, .Vshtabnla county, to endeavor to fill the quota of a dozen men or so apportioned to the township. The town had l)een fully rep- 24 TIIK STOllY OF A THOUSAND. reseiuc'd ri'oin IIk' slurt in iietively engaged regiments ami hud come to realize something what war was. so that men who desired a closer acqnaintance with it had become very scarce. The bounty stage had not yet been reached, and if a few dollars was offered it was done with upologies to the recipient as --a little provision for unexpected expenses." .\ little later the public be- came more familiar with the idea in the light of an efiualization of burdens, which divested the ti'ansaction of some of the repugnance with which it was at this time regarded. The men who cared for military glory or adventure had had ample opportunity to gratify their longing. The excitable or impressible had all been gathered into the ranks and it was realized that every recruit would be secured with increasing difficulty. Extraordinary efforts were made to effect the object of the meeting. Elo- ([uent speakers from a distance joined forces with officers resplendent in new uniforms who had been sent home to nrge enlistment. The line of argument or persuasion took the form of assurance that with the great accessions to the Northern armies now lieing made, the insurgent states would be quickly overwhelmed, " the shell of the Confed- eracy crushed, "' and after a few months at most, of a sort of picnic excursion, the "brave boys" would return covered with glory to their happy homes. The eloquence was all wasted. The meeting was a failure and about to adjourn with but a single recruit of doubtful availability, when Horatio M. Smith, a clerk in the village store, who had been a silent listener, arose in his place, and in a few brief sentences deprecated the mistaken policy of underrating the resources of the enemy and the perils of war, and thus unintentionally, no doubt, misleading men and especially boys who might rely more on what was told them than on what they knew, as to the necessity for more troops. He said, in effect, that he believed the war was only fairly begun; that if the colonies numbering but three millions UKor, of their wives, children, and even of their lives in the name of Christianity and civiliza- tion ; that the war meant not only restoration Oi the Union, but the extinction of that crowning infamy of the Republic, American slavery ; that the time had not 3'et come to abolish this relic of barbarism, but if the North was true to itself it soon would come; that the armies of the South were being augmented by conscription as fast or faster than ours by volunteering; that at any time they were likely to hurl an army across the borders of our own State and compel us to decide on our own soil the issues of the war, if we did not meet them and compel the question of armed secession to be decided on slave territory; that the men were certainly coming with guns in their hands and we must meet them on our feet or on our knees, must fight them and whip them or run away from them or submit to them, and must choose very quick which alternative we would take; that war was not recreation, but the most serious affair a man could engage in; that it meant trial and privation, cold, hunger, sickness, wounds, and often death; that anyone who thought this too high a price to pay for the security of mothers, wives, children, and home, should not enlist as a soldier; that he himself was ready to meet the issue at once in the only way brave men could meet it, and he hoped ten other men would go with him from Orwell that night to join the lOoth Ohio in wliich they li:id so many friends and relatives. 2G TTIK STORV OF A THOUSAND. In as uuuiy minutes, ten white- facet I men li:ul walked up to the table and signed the paper which gave their services for three years or during the war to the defense of their country. Loving hands were busy in hurriedly packing into car- pet-bags a change of underclothing, a pair or two of stock- ings, a bottle of --Pain Killer.'' a little " housewife"' with needles and thread, a roll of bandage and some lint, and in every bag. wrapped in a shirt or handkerchief, a Testament or Bible. In an hour they were in wagons on the road to the camp at Cleveland, fifty miles distant, which was reached in the morning, Justin time to permit them to join the regi- ment of their choice. In a week they were on the way to the front; in little more than a month, they were veterans who had seen more war than many soldiers did in ^-ears. and few of them saw the homes they left so unexpectedlv that night until after three years of fighting and thousands of miles of marching, they returned, when the flag they loved floated in undisputed sovereignty over the whole land. But at what fearful cost ! Of those who made that journey from Orwell to Cleveland, liow man}' were laid to rest in graves far from the motliers who kissed their boyish cheeks for the last time tliat night. How many of those who returned missed the welcome of a voice that had been the dearest in the world ! This account has been condensed from a contem- poraneous narrative. How true a picture it was every one whose memory reaches back to that time can well avoucli. The meeting in Orwell is but a type of thousands held at that time, when pulses beat faster than ever before. IV. THE RANK AND FILE. HE men wLo took the oath of service oil that August day of 1862. were fresh from their shops and harvest - fields. A few of them enio3'ed the proud distinction of having seen ser- vice. The colonel had a scar upon his forehead, a reminiscence of the battle of Shiloh. The lieutenant-colonel had also won promotion fairly l)y a year's service as captain in another regiment. The major had been a lieutenant under the first call for troops, when it was hoped that ninety days would end the war, a hope he fervently shared; but, seeing it did not, he thought the time had come to go again. Four of the captains had records of previous service ; three in the war then going on and one in the war with Mexico. Six of the lieutenants were also what were then esteemed veterans. They had seen service, and some of them had seen the hot glare of battle. A few of the enlisted men had also responded to the three months' call. On account of this, they were mostly made orderly sergeants. For the rest, field, staff, and line, the whole rank and file, were raw products of the life of the Western Reserve. Two-thirds of them were farmers' sons, who, up to that time had been at school, at work upon their fathers' farms, or employed by the month by some neighbor preparatory to setting up for them- 28 THE STOh'V OF A THOUSAND. selves. Tliere was one lawyer and live law - students among tlieni; one minister, some dozens of clerks, two medical students, and a hundred or more teachers. Eighty- five per cent, of them were of native parentage. One-fifth of those of foreign birth who had missed the advantage of free-schools, signed the muster-roll with a cross. Onlv r.VPT. (tEORCJE L. RlKER. GEOKUE L. RiKEK Was born in Queens County, N. Y., October 11. 183ii. He attended the schools of New York City until he was seventeen, when he removed with his parents to Livingston County, N. Y., and in 1850 came with them to Painesville. Ohio. He was commissioned captain Company D 105th O. \'. I., with which he served until the Tall of 1864. He was wounded at the battle Of Perryville.Ky.aiid iifiain during the siege of Atlanta. In February. 1H64. he was commissioned mijor. but not mustered, the regriment beiuK reduced below the minimum by casualties of service and not entitled to a TlIK RANK AJSn FILE. 20 one who was native-born made his murk. 'I'iieie were no rich men in the regimeiil, proltahly but one wortii more than ten thousand dolhirs. and, perhaps, not half a dozen who could claim more than half that valuation. At the same time, there were no poor men among them. Every one was self-suj^poiting, or belonged to a family of sul>- stantial means, or engaged in profitable industry. Of those who worked for wages, the average monthly stipend was at least double the pay the soldier received. Of farm- laV)orers, the lowest rate reported by nearly two hundred survivors, was fourteen dollars a month and board, the recipient being a boy of seventeen. From that amount the wages of farm-laborers ranged up to twenty-five and thirty dollars a month. Clerks received from thirty to forty dollars and board; teachers from twenty-five to one hundred dollars a month. There were half a dozen col- lege-students, and more than a hundred students of tlu^ various academies in the region from which the regiment was drawn, enrolled in the diflf'erent companies. This region comprised the five easterly counties of the Western Reserve, the northeasterly counties of Ohio — Ash- tabula. Trumbull, Lake, Geauga, and Mahoning. In all of them there was not a town of more than one or two thou- sand inhabitants, and but one that laid (daim to the title of city. It was almost wholly a farming region. What manu- factures there were, were of a domestic sort, scattered here and there in the villages and at the cross-roads. Eight years before, a railroad had crept westward along the southern shore of Lake Erie. The Mahoning valley had but recently been tapped by a railroad from Cleveland, opening up its treasures of iron and coal. With tliese full quota of offlcers. He resigned in Sept(;mber, 18(54. haviiis^ paiticipau;ii in every battle and skirmish in which the regiment was engaged up to that date. After his return he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1879 he was appointed light-keeper, at Fairport. Ohio, which position he still holds. He has twice been elected mayor of the village and a member of the Board of Education for the same. He was engaged in a profitable manufaettiriug liusi- nevs when he entered the service. 30 TJIK STOUT OF A THOUSAND. exceptions, there was not a mile of railway in the whole five counties. Many of those who came to take the oath of service had never seen a locomotive until ordered to report at the rendezvous. The Lake Shore road cut the northern tier of townships in two of the counties — Ash- tabula and Lake. The recruits from the south- erly towns eame in wagons along the level roads that stretched between fertile and prosperous farms, to the rail- way stations in their various counties. One of these squads had a rather quaint experience with an incorrigible gate-keeper on a plank road, who refused to let them pass without payment of the customary toll. Being soldiers in the service of the State, they refused to accede to his demand. There was a hot argument. The gatekeeper was obstinate ; the embryo soldiers indignant. The incident was characteristic of the time and the spirit of the people. The gatekeeper was bound to do his duty, the young men cared nothing for the trivial sum demanded, but thought it an insult to the service in which they were enlisted. There came near being a ruined tollhouse as the result: but some roke the lock of the gate, and the wagons drove on with shouts of derision for the gatekeeper, who was what was then termed a '• copperliead," and took this way to show his opposition to the war which was in progress. It will help to realize the ditt'erence between the people of the two sections, if we reflect that a Union man who had thus obstructed the march of Confederate soldiers to their rendezvous, would have been hanged as well as hooted. Even when exasperated, the northern man rarely lost his law-al)iding character. Violence was almost unknown to the communities from which these young soldiers came. During the months of July and August they liad been recruited at their homes, in the fields, and at meetings held in the various villages, })}• officers who had received appoint- ments, which were to be exchanged for commissions when a siifiicient mimber to constitute! the reijiment had been TJIK RANK AND FILM. rjl enlisted. Some, who hud l)een loiith to give tlieir names es marchinii un." TirK RANK AND FTLE. -{8 Till' words ot" :i l)oy of iiiiK'teeii, who was one of tlie Tliousaiul. show the force of tliese influences with peculiar vividness. He writes : •• My first lively interest in the great question at issue between the North and the South was roused, I think, by a visit, to my father's house, of John Kagi, the right-hand man of old John Brown, of Kansas, who was killed, later, in the ill-advised Harper's Ferry undertaking. T had known young Kagi well, as an intimate friend of my brother, Ho- ratio, and a frequent visitor at our house, when I was a lad of ten or twelve, and he a young man of twent}' or twenty- one, just before he went to Kansas from his home in Bris- tol, 0. He was then a remarkably handsome youth — tall; slight, amiable, refined and in every way most attractive. He went to Kansas to teach school and seek his fortune. Perhaps a year before the Harper's Ferry alTair, he re- turned for a brief visit. A singular change had been wrought in his appearance and character. His laughing eyes had become cold, stern and watchful ; his mobile, smiling woman's mouth was set and hard ; his straight, black hair was streaked with gray and a white lock showed where a bullet had plowed his scalp. He had no thought or word for aught but the outrages of the pro-slaverj' men upon the free-state settlers in Kansas. He spent but a few days with his family, then hurried back to what he consid- ered his post of duty. I heard little more of him until his tragic death at Harpers Ferry. I was, however, so im- pressed with his earnestness and the thrilling recital of events in Kansas that it has always been difficult for me to regard the firing on Sumter as more than an episode in a war wliich had begun years before on the western plains. " So the lad who had listened to Kagi, with the brother, Horatio who was his friend, stood in the ranks of the Thousand, and became, finally. Captain Horatio M. Smith, the distinguished quartermaster, honored with the special confidence of Gleneral Thomas, and Corporal William O. 34 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. Smith, who was t• Thank God ! " said the fatiier, standing up in the wagon, reverently taking off his hat and raising his right hand. '-Tliank God, another family is rescued from the hell of slavery ! "" The son never knew whether it was by accident or de- sign that he was brought to witness this scene. It was a dangerous thing at that time, even on the Reserve, to give aid or comfort to an escaping fugitive. Nothing more was said ; but there is reason to believe that the stern-faceil *.See Appendix. THE RANK AND FILE. 35 father knew the peril of the fnoitives, and if the boat had not arrived that day, he had arranged to take them, at lus own risk, in Ids wagon that niglit to ;i noted " station ' on the "underground railwa}', " just across the western line of Pennsylvania. The l)oy was one of the Thousand, also, with the lesson fresh in his memory. THF, SWORD- iSEARERS. ill Mi'iiiies ihere are two classes — couimissioiiecl ttfticers and en- listed men. The former carry swords and direct ; the latter constitute the fighting strength. The regiment is the unit of forcf w. in an army ; that is, it is the low- J^ est organization which is complete \^ within itself. The companies of a regiment have a certain organic relation to each other, and to the whole of which the}' are constitu- ent parts. The}' may he separated and detached, but they are still part of the organization, are car- ried on its rolls, and return to it at the expiration of their " detached service ; " with the regiment, it is not so. It may be taken from one brigade, attached to another or as- signed to a distinct service, having no farther relation to the organization or its brigade companions. The life of a regiment is that of a permanent com- munity composed of ten families. Each family has its own place and its own specific quality and character. This special character of the company may, in some instances, depend not a little upon the men, but it is necessarily deter- mined very much more by the quality and character of its officers. There is, perhaps, no relation in life in which tlir THE SWORD BEARERS. 'M character of one man is reflected so clearly in the lives of other men as that of the commander of a compan}'. in the soldierly quality of the enlisted men under his command. A colonel may impress his personality, to a certain extent, on all the companies of his regiment, but his influence Capt. Alfred (i. WiLrox. Alfred Gould Wilcox was born March 31, 1841, in Madison, Lake Co.. Ohio. He lived on a farm, attended the common schools and academy until rifteen years old, then entered Oberlin Collegei and was in the Junior year when the call for troops came, under which the 105th was organized. He was commissioned 1st lieutenant of Company F, which was raised jointly in Lake and Geauga Counties; participated in all the raids, battles and skirmishes in which the regiment was engaged ; was promoted to captain and assigned to Company F, on the 13th of January, 1863, and was mustered out as such, hav- ing remained in command of same for nearly three years. Soon after the war. having chosen the profession of editor and publisher, he served an appren- ticeship as city editor of the Cleveland Leader. He afterwards formed a part- nership with Captain J. H. Greene, and bought the Journal, of Fremont, O. Later, he bought the Telegram, of Richmond, Ind. Here he built up a flour- 38 - THE STOIIY OF A TJIOUf^ANlt. amounts to little in determiniug the moral tone of his men and holding them up to a high standard of efficiency, un- less supported by the immediate commander of each com- pany. It is only this man who can encourage and inspire the men under his immediate control to the best effort, the highest valor and the most unflinching endurance of priva- tion and fatigue. Of this truth, the Thousand afforded a notable example in that veteran captain "who had learned a soldiers duty on the plains of Mexico, who, after the most arduous service the regiment ever saw and one of the most exhaustive marches ever performed by unseasoned troops, made report of his company: ''Present or accounted for, nltnfij-riglit ! " Why was it, when the ranks of others were so depleted ? Of course, the fact that they had done less marching than the others counted for much, but he had counseled his men to throw away everything they could spare, at the outset ; when he saw a man exhausted, got another to help him ; spared no opportunity to get a foot- sore one a place in a wagon, and, by so favoring the weak and encouraging the strong to help them, he brought his compau}' into camp without the loss of a man, captured or straggled on the march. It is a matter of sincere regret that the utmost exertion has failed to secure the portrait of an officer of such excellent promise as Captain Ixobert Wilson, of Company II, who fell, pierced ))y three bullets, on our first battlefield at Perrvville. ishing business, ut one time owning and publishing also ibu Courier, of New- Castle, Ind. Not in the best of health, he sold his properties, and in the fall of 187J, removed to Minnesota. Locating in Minneapolis, he became manai,'er of the Daily Neirs. and afterwards of the Daily Tribune. Later, he begaa publishing subscription books for The Household, of which, one, The liuckeye. Cook Book, has had the enormous sale of nearly 1,000.(X)0 copies, lu connec- tion with these publications, he started The Housekeeper, which at the time of its sale by him in 1887, had reached a circulation of 120,000. a number unap- proached by any similar publication. During the time he was carrying on these enterprises, he became owner of a tract of fertile prairie lands of Min- nesota, and became interested in farming and stock raising, and few men have done more for the agricultural interests of the State than he. Follow- ing these lines, with varying fortune, he has led a life remarkable for ener- getic and persistent work and manly achievement. He lives in Minneapolis, und is an active member of the Minnesota Commandery of the Loyal Legion. THE SWOni) /Ih'ARh'RS. ?.9 The cluinicter of an army depends upon the quality of those units of force, the regiments ; and the regimental character must always be determined, in great measure, by the (juality of its officers. They are the nerves by which the purpose of the commander is communicated to the mass; and if they are deficient in spirit, knowledge, or determination, when it stands in tlie forefront of battle, those who place dependence on it will be sure to suffer dis- appointment. The soldier looks to his officer, not merely for orders, but f(^r example. Drill and discipline are only instrumentalities by which the efficiency of men and officers are alike enhanced. Drill merely familiarizes both with their respective func- tions: the use of discipline is only to estalilish con- ti deuce Ix'tween the en- listed man and his officer. Tf that confidence already exists, it requires very little drill to make the recruit a soldier; if it has to be created, the habit of obedience must take the place of personal confi- dence. Who were they to whom the destiny of the Thou- Cokp. Lumax G. Griste. sand was committed? In every case they were the product of the same conditions as the enlisted men — field, staff, and line were the neighbors and kinsmen of the rank and file. The Colonel, born thirty-one years before in a little LUMAN G. Griste was bjr;i at New Hampden, Geauga C'juaty, Ohio, JunelS, 184t. Enlisted at eighteen in Company G, was appointed corporal; detailed as Judge Advocate's clerk during August 1863; wounded at Chicka- raauga, September 'Zl, 18t5.S : discharged February 2^. 18&4; graduated from I'leveland Homeopath^'c College, in 1874. Has practiced his profession at Twinsburg. O.. since that time. 40 THE STORY OF A TllOUSAyD. couiitiy village, had been educated in the public school:? had worked his way to some prominence at the bar. had been elected prosecuting attorney of his county, had gone west to Minnesota, half a score of years before its boom arrived, and had just returned to his old home when tlie first gun was fired on Fort Sumter. He raised a company for one of the earliest Ohio regiments, the TwentA'-fourth. and had distinguished himself five months before in the bloody conflict at Shiloh. Short, compact, resolute, alert. and self-reliant, he possessed in a remarkable degree the qualities which would have secured distinction as a military "commander had fate not cut short his career. Within two months, he rose to the temporary command of a division, not by favor, but by the hap of battle, which, in a single hour, made him its senior officer. He never came to the command of the regiment again. Ijut won deserved fame by his brilliant handling of the brigade of which it was a part. If he did not always win the love of those under his command, there was none who could with- hold admiration for his soldierly qualities, or fail to feel a thrill of pride at the thought that he belonged, in a sense, to us The Lieutenant-colonel, five 3'ears older than his superior officer, tall, slender, courteous, witli flowing black beard and keen, flashing eye, was an ideal soldier of another type. The counting-room and the village store had been his college. He had left a desolate hearthstone a year before to give what he deemed a shattered life to the ser- vice of his country. Never had soldier a nobler ideal. A constant victim of pain, he never shirked a duty or spared himself exposure. Sometimes irascible in camp, he was a model of cheerfulness upon the march; nothing daunted him and no hardship was too great for him to endure. In l)attle his calmness approached the sublime. If the Colonel dreamed of stars as he had good right to do, the Lieutenant-colonel's aspiration never went beyond the eagle, which he, no doubt, hoped to wear, the joy of battle, the fame of brilliant achievement, and a soldier's THE SWORD BEARERS. 41 ileath — which he neglected uo opportunity to win. The Major was twenty-six, of auburn hair, pleasant face, calm, earnest eyes, and quiet, retiring manner. He seemed, at first glance, hardly fitted for command. For a time, the Thousand thought him almost a supernumerary; but there was a firmness about the smiling mouth under the tawny mustache and a flash that came sometimes into the great brown eyes that served well enough to check familiarity, and there was never any need to enforce obedience. It was thought that the Colonel was some- times inclined to be imperious with his second in com- mand, but he was complacency itself to the sunny-faced Major. Was it because that officer was close akin to the governor of the state, whose favor was not a thing to be despised by one am- l)itious of promotion? Let us not in(iuire too closely. The Thousand was composed of men not overburdened with re- gard for rank. The life from which they came was that stronger phase of New Eng. land life found at the Private C. R. R.\dcliffe, Co. F. West, which retains, perhaps in an aggravated form, the peculiar New England quality of a jealous self-esteem. They obeyed with readiness, ])ecause that was a soldier's Ch.\kle.s K. Radcliffe was born in Mentor, O., a stone's throw from the little Disciple Church which President Garlield used to attend. He was seventeen years old when he enlisted as a private, and at that time was a shoemaker's apprentice. He served continuously until the army crossed the Chaltahoochie River. Here, utterly worn out with the hardships of service he was sent to the rear, none of his companions expectint? ever to see 42 TlIK STOltY OF A TJIUl'SA^'D. duty, and treuted their officers with respect, becuuse tliey respected themselves. The quiet Major grew in their regard upon a basis of mutual esteem, which was not at all abated when he had held the command longer than both of his superiors. He had no special liking for military life, no desire for promotion, no thirst for 'j^lory, no hope for ulterior advantage. Without political aspiration, endowed with sulticient earthly possessions, he simply did his duty because it was his duty, and regarded the Thousand the less honored by his leadership than he by the confidence they bestowed. He had no lack of self- respect, but his orders took as often the tone of rec^uest as of command. Three better types of the citi/A'u soldier it would be hard to find in any army. The subalterns were simply fair samples of the life from which the regiment was drawn. Of the ten captains, one was a professor in an academy, one a minister, two were students, one was a mining superintendent, three or four had been engaged in mercantile pursuits. They were mostly men approaching middle life, their average age being thirty -three years. Of these onl}- one remained with the regiment until the close of the war — Captain Charles 1). Edwards, of Company A, afterwards major, lieutenant- colonel, and brevet-colonel when mustered out. Two were killed, one died, four resigned, and two were dismissed. The twenty lieutenants were of the average age of twenty-five years. They were nearl}' all students or clerks. him attain. He w;is captured with the forage train near Murfret^^^boro, Tenn, Jaue 21. 18.5S, and released ou parole a few days afterwards. The close of the war found him little more alive than dead. He went to Missouri to engage iu farming; made no money but recovered his health ; took a course in a business college; ran a paper at Baldwin, Michigan; was city editor of The Commercial, Toledo, O., and in 1889 was appointed mail agent. He has held many places of honor and trust in the towns where ho has resided, his party, the church and the Grand Army. He now lives in Detroit, Michigan. It is to Comrade Radcliffe that the lO.Sth owes the tirst attempt to write its history. He kept a daily journal and the newspaper account he gave of the service of the regiment is full of life and incident, and surprisingly correct when we consider the circumstances under which it was written. 77/a; sword nKAllEliS. 4-.i Six of them weif college gnuluates, or college students. Seven were mustered out us captains, four died during the service, eight resigned, one was dismissed. The men these officers commanded had been their neighl)ors, schoolmates, friends. No wall of exclusion separated them; rank made little ditterence in their rela- tions. They found it not ditlicult to command, for the only deference they exacted was the formal one their posi- tion required. Save in a few instances, they directed rather than ordered. The enlisted man sought his officers tent for counsel as freely almost as his comrades. On the march, they chatted familiarly as they had done at iionie. The friendships that had existed remained uu- l)rokeu. The man in the ranks had almost as much pride in his friend who carried a sword as if the emblem of rank had been his own. Perhaps he was his brother or his cousin. Not unfrequently the orderly sergeant messed with the commissioned officers. Why should he not? In education, wealth, and all that society counts essential to gentility, save the accident of temp(n\ary rank, he was often their equal, sometimes their superior. Even in rank, he was likely at any time to rise to their level. Of the line and staff officers mustered out with the regiment at the close of the war, all but eight had been mustered in as enlisted men. Few of the officers found it necessary to resort to exclu- siveness or i)unishment to secure the respect of those under their command, and in those cases respect did not always accompany obedience. Oljedience, indeed. l)ecame habitual, l)ut it was the willing obedience of the intelligent man, not the slavish submission of an inferior l)ased on fear of pun- ishment. Because of this, the Thousand became noted for the parental character of its discipline. It had an envi- able reputation for good order and prompt obedience, but was especially distinguished for the mildness and infre- quency of its punishments. 44 THE STORY OF A THOU HAND. From the point of view of tlie regular army officer, all this was horribly bad form; but the theory of discipline which prevails in our regular army is purely monarchical and aristocratic. Despite the man}' gallant and nol)le ittticers it contains, it is in theory and in practice a disgrace to the republic. AVhen the ranks shall be made the only door to West Point, and every soldier shall have an open field for preferment, it will become the most efficient army in the world; then desertions will cease and the expense of recruiting be avoided, since the best young men of the nation will seek the army as a desii'able career. It is a change that is sure to come, since it is dictated by every patriotic consideration. The country cannot afford either to rear aristocrats or to deprive the men in the ranks of the soldiers just reward — the right to wear a sword wlien he has fitted himself for the duties of command. Neither the officers nor men of the Thousand wert- silints; but the}' were fellow-soldiers, as they had been fel- low-citizens, and, in the main, self-respecting soldiers, as they had been self-respecting citizens. VT. THK TIFKATEK OF WAR. HE theater of war was of almost un- precedented extent, and altogether uni(|ue in character. Roughly desig- nated, it may be said to have been bounded by the Potomac. Ohio, and Missouri rivers on the north, and by the Atlantic and Gulf coast upon the east and south. It was divided b}' the Mississippi. That portion lying east of the great river was marked by certain peculiar combinations of natural conformation and arti- ficial roadway, which were at every stage of the conflict of prime importance, and, in the main, determinative of the strategy of both armies. Its most important physical feature was a rugged mountain region roughly triangular in form, its base extendmg from Harper's Farry, on the Potomac, west- ward to the neighborhood of Portsmouth, on the Ohio river, and its apex resting at Stevenson, in Alabama. The northern and western sides of this triangle are each about three hundred miles in length, and its southeastern side more than five hundred miles. This region embraces nearly all of West Virginia, the western portions of Virginia, North and South Carolina, the northwestern part of Georgia, and Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. It is composed of a great number of elongated peaks or over- lapping ranges, having a general trend from northeast towards the southwest. These are divided into two general 45 46 THE STOllY OF A TJlOi'SAM). fz;roups, separated from each other by a depression, which extends longitiulinally from L\ nchburo;, Virginia, to Steven- son, Alabama. The northern part of this depression constitutes tlie i)ed into "wiiieh are gathered the triljiitaries of the James river, flowing eastward tlirough tlie passes of the lilne Maksh.vi.l W. Wkight, R. q. M. Maushall W. Wright was born August 27, 181S. in Conneaul. O. His father was a native of Massachusetts, his mother of Connecticut. He was the oldest son, and very early in life had to help support the family. School advantages were almost unknown. He pursued his father's occupation, that of tanner, and was married March 26, 1844. In 1847, he moved to Dorset. O., antl followed farming for six years. He was elected .Sheriff of the County of Ashiahula, in 1S53, and served two terms. In 18.57 he removed to Kingville. Ohio, and has since resided there. He has live children and eighteen grandchildren, and in April. 18W4. cele- brated his golden wedding He was appointed lieutenant and (juarter-master TJIK THE AT Kit OF WAR. IT Kiilge. Almost interluciug wilh these ure the head waters of the Clinch and HoIsUju rivers; these, uniting, form the Tennessee, which, flowing to the southwestwartl, ))iirsts through the mountain barrier in the northeastern part of Alabama, where it whimsically abandons its southwestern course, which, continued would lead to the Gulf of Mexico, three hundred miles away, and lazily and uncertainly pur- suing the' arc of a great circle, falls into the Ohio at Paducah, almost as far to the northward. ol ihe 105lh at its organizaiioii, and served as such until April 1.;. 18()4. vvhi u lie resigned on account of ill health. Quarierma.sier Wright furnished a very necessary ingredient of the morale of the field and staff of the regiment. He was a man of mature age, who had occupied positions of honor and trust; was of influence in his county; well-known and highly esteemed throughout the district from which the regiment came; of iucorruiJiiljle integrity, unimpeachable good will for all; without a suspicion of self-seeking, easily approachable; of invincible good natuie. and having that most delightful of all faculties, the power of making everyone feel that he was his friend without being the enemy of any- one else. He was a maa of easy temper, not remarkable, either for e.xecu- tive ability or irrepressible energj', but altogether remarkable for readiness to encounter any difficulty, and for unfailing good nature under the most dis- heartening and depressing conditions. He was every man's friend, as ready to cheer and condole with a teamster, or a footsore soldier, as with any officer of the regiment. His wide acquaintance throughout Ashtabula County enabled him to do many acts of liiuduess for the friends and families of the soldiers, which he was never too busy or weary to undertake. To the sick of tbe regiment he was a benison; to everyone a friend. That he was able to siJare time for these unnumbered errands of mercy and cheer, without the duties of his position suflering from neglect, is due to the rare qualities of the men who were his assistants and immediate subordin- ates. Probably no regimental quartermaster ever before had two as efficient quartermaster sergeants as Horatio M. Smith and George W. Cheney, or a commissary sergeant of such unpretending faithfulness or scrupulous exact- ness as William J. Gibson, a commissary who when the ration for each man during the siege of Chattanooga fell to less than live hard-tack each, for eight days, had the self-control and rigid sense of justice to give himself only the four and a half he dealt out to the others. It seems a small matter to a man who has enough to eat, but that half-cracker which Sergeant Gib- son broke off from his own ration and cast back into the aggregate, at a time when men knelt about the islace where rations were issued and picked up the crumbs which fell upon the ground, represented more self-denial than can well be understood by those who have not been in like conditions. With such assistants and his own inexhaustible amiability. Lieutenant Wright was no doubt the best-liked quartermaster In the army, as he was easily the best-known and best-loved man in the regiment — not only by the men in the field but by their wives and children at home— as he continues to be until this day 48 77IE STOHr OF A THOUSAXD. This great lougituditial depression divicles, not very unequally, this vast mountain region into two parts, each with an eastern and western declivity, both laterally pierced by innumerable narrow and tortuous valleys, lying between irregular and precipitous mountain walls. The eastern por- tion is termed, indifferently, the Blue Ridge or Alleghany mountains. The western range is called collectively the Cumberland mountains, and, in its lower part, the Cumber- land plateau. The eastern range was at that time practi- cally impassable for an armed force throughout its whole extent, from the passes where the James river breaks forth in the rear of Lynchburg, to the tortuous defiles through which the railroad steals from Chattanooga to Atlanta. The western side of this double-ended trough is pierced with some half dozen intricate and ditticult passes, only one of which, known as Cumberland Gap, lying a hundred and eighty miles almost due south from Cincinnati, was sup- posed at the outbreak of the war to afford a really feasible route to the valley of the Holston, or East Tennessee. The struggle developed the fact that at least three others were actually available, while the elevated plateau into which tlie lower part of the Cumberland range expands, was cut by numerous difficult init practicable defiles, between the head of the Sequatchie valley and the debouch- ment of the Tennessee river. The whole region is some- times denominated the Appalachian mountains. Along this median dt'i)ression which separates the Blue Ridge from the Cumberland range, ran a railroad linking Richmond, the seat of Confederate power, with the southwestern states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi. Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. Along the eastern slope of the Alleghanies ran also, other lines of railroad, connect- ing Richmond with Atlanta and the southeastern states of the Confederacy. The strategic effect of this conforma- tion in conjunction with these railway lines was, first, to make the three northeastern states of the Confederacy unassailable from the northwest, except through the north- THE THEATER OF WAR. 4!) era outlet of the valley of East Teuuessee, iu the rear of Lynchburg, or around the southern end of this impervious rocky chain, along the railroad leading from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Because of this, the Confederate forces in Virginia, North and South Carolina had no need to guard iigainst attack from the rear, but could concentrate their whole strength against the enemy in front. In the second place, this depression with the railroail running through it, served as a covered way by which the forces of the Confederacy might be quickly and safely concentrated on any part of their line which chanced to be threatened and returned before the enemy could take advantage of their absence. It was on these lines, running through Vicksburg, Corinth, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Knoxville. and uniting in the field of opera- tions of the army of Northern Virginia, that nearly all the great battles of the war were fought. This double-walled, impregnable rampart, extending three hundred miles southward from the Ohio, and five hundred miles southwestward from the Potomac, of neces- sity greatly enhanced the defensive capacity of the Confed- erac}^ One has only to imagine the Appalachian moun- tains removed so as to permit access at almost any point on this long line, to realize how easily an army moving through West Virginia or Kentucky might, in connection with an attack in front, have compelled the evacuation of Rich- mond. As things were, however, an army operating from the Ohio river as a base, had open to it only three lines ot approach to the Confederate territory: (1) through the gaps of the Cumljerland range into East Tennessee ; (2) along the line of the Louisville and Nashville railway to Stevenson or Chattanooga, thereby turning the southern end of the Appalachian mountains; or, (3) along the course of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the same strategic line. At the outbreak of the struggle, the Confederates 50 THE STOUT OF A THOUSAND. seized and held the sontberu portion of Kentucky, the center of the army of occupation being at Munfordville and Bowling Green; its right at Cumberland Ford and Barboursville, under General Zollicoffer, covering the road to Cumberland Gap; and its left at Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river, which, with Fort Henry, twelve miles away on the Tennessee, was heavily garrisoned and relied upon to hold those rivers against both the Union land and naval forces. These positions were admirable for defence, and efjually admirable for an attack by the Confederate center. It was natux'al, therefore, that the Federal com. mander in Kentucky, General Robert Anderson, and his (successor, General \Y. T. Sherman, should be apprehensive of such an attack, and desirous of strengthening his own center at Louisville. This policy was continued by General Buell, who was assigned to the command of the army of the Ohio, embracing the forces in Kentucky and Tennessee .east of the mouth of the Cumberland, in November, 1861. In the meantime. General George H. Thomas, in com- mand of the Federal left at Somerset and Camp Dick Robin- son, was urging an advance by Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee, to seize the railroad running from the Confeder. ate capital along the valley of the Tennessee, so as to both interrupt communication with the southwest and turn the right of the Confederate army in Kentucky by demonstrat- ing against Chattanooga. General Ormsby M. Mitchell, who commanded at Cincinnati at that time, was enthusiast- ically in favor of this movement, declaring that to hold East Tennessee, with its intense Union sentiment, was " e(iuivalent to placing an army of fifty thousand men at the back door of the Confederacy." President Lincoln, with that unerring insight which was the distinguishing ([uality of his genius, also approved this movement, and I'ecommended to Congress an appropriation to build a mili- tary railroad from Lexington to Knoxville, via Cumberland Gap, for the transportation of men and supplies, in order that this all but inaccessible cleft in the mountain wall THE THEATER OF WAR. .-)! might I)e made • • an impregnable citadel of liberty." We know now how true were the President's intuitions, and how just were the views of the commanders who urged this course. But the country had not yet learned the wonderful sagacity of Lincoln, and the modest Thomas and impetu- ous Mitchell were both distrusted for the very qualities which would have made them of inestimable value to the national cause had they Ijeen given the scope and recogni- tion they deserved. The one was doomed to perish in practical exile in a useless command on the South Carolina coast; the other to wait until the ver^' last hour of the great conflict for the recognition of his merit. The influences which were to shape the action of the army under General Buell were destined to come from other sources than its commander. It may be doubted if he was intellectuall}' capable of a successful initiative. Overesti- mating always his opponent s power and dwelling persist- ently on the strategic advantages the enemy possessed, he forgot everything that made in his own favor, and reall}- allowed the movements of his army to be dependent on those of his opponent, to a degree, perhaps, unprecedented in military history. Such a line of action can never suc- ceed except in a purely defensive warfare — and even a Fa- l)ius needs to be able to strike at the proper moment, and to strike with all his force. By some curious misapprehension of llie character of General Thomas, who commanded the forces opposed to his right wing, General Albert Sidney Johnston was induced to sanction an advance under Zollicofler, an advance justi- fied, perhaps, by political hopes, ])ut wholly indefensible from a military point of view. The result was the battle of Mill Springs, fought on the nineteenth of January. 18G2, resulting in the first Federal victory of the war at the West. Zollicoffer's force was not only defeated, but also driven across the Cumberland, exposing Johnston's flanks in a manner which, if followed up, must have compelled him to fall back to the line of the Cumberland river. Instead of 52 THE STORY OF A TIIOCSAND. pursuing this advantugo, Buell ordered his victorious sub- ordinate to retreat. Little more than a montli later, February 2, lSt)2, how- ever, events occurred which were, fortunately, beyond the control of the trio of scientific soldiers — McClellan, Hal- leck and Buell — who then commanded the three great ar- mies of the Union. The department under the control of the latter, though not strictly bounded in his assignment to command, extended westward only to the mouth of the Cumberland River. Beyond that was the Department of Missouri, with General H. W. Halleck in command. G-en- eral George B. McClellan. as commander-in-chief of all the armies of the United States, exerci-sed a general supervision and control. These three men were pre-eminent among the officers of the Federal Army as theoretical soldiers. As military critics, they were, perhaps, unexcelled in their day. Their very excellence as theorists, however, not being- coupled with that resolution and audacity which are essen- tial to enable a commander to win l^attles or overcome an enemy, became a source of weakness rather than of strength. The trained imagination, which is the peculiar quality of the strategist, had in them been developed without the modifying influence of actual warfare or a corresponding development of that pugnacious spirit which inclines a commander to make up in celerity of movement, vigor of attack or stubbornness of resistance, any fortuitous advant- age he sees that his opponent might have, but of which it is not certain that he will be able to avail himself. Prob- ably, three men were never before associated in the chief control of a nations armies who so closely resembled each other in capacity to overrate their opponents, minify their own advantages, and out of imaginary molehills create in- superable obstacles. It was an instance, on an almost unprecedented scale, of an army of lions led by a trio of hinds — not that either of these men lacked personal courage any -more than thev lacked military skill, but the fear of failure was with each THE THEATER OF WAR. 53 so great as to overwhelm that dogged determination to win. on which success in war must always finally depend. A mere scientific soldier may organize an army, may decide what strategic movements are preferable upon a definite theater of war, or may plan a successful campaign ; but the man who commands an army and controls its move- ments should be, first of all things, a resolute and deter- mined fighter. Despite the paucity of troops in the vast department under his control, the Confederate commander in Kentucky, General Albert Sidney Johnston, had posted at Forts Don- elson and Henry an army of more than 20,000 men, which should have been sufficient to hold them against three times their number. This was a matter of supreme importance to General Johnston, for on the maintenance of this posi- tion depended his own ability to hold Southern Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. These works were on the extreme eastern verge of General Halleck's Department of the Mis- souri, and, as such, were a part of the District of Cairo, then, fortunately, under the command of a soldier who had no paper reputation to paralyze his impulse, but who had every incentive, as well as the native resolution, to under- take great things, even when apparently impossiljle of achievement. This man, then quite unknown to fame, had gotten the idea that, by an unexpected attack, the weaker of these strongholds, Fort Henry, might be taken, and that the other might either be carried by immediate assault, or, being fully invested, might be compelled to capitulate before it could be relieved. For a month he had impor- tuned his superior. General Halleck, to allow him to pur- sue this course. On the first day of February he received permission to make the attempt ; on the second, he started with fifteen thousand men to attack the two strongest military positions west of the Alleghanies, garrisoned by nearly twice as many men as he commanded ; on the sixth. Fort Henry surrendered ; on the twelfth, Fort Donelson was invested ; 54 THE tRY OF A TJIOUSANl). on the sixteenth, it surrendered. Fifteen thousand pris- oners and more guns than the besiegers had were captureegan his march, unopposed, fron) the head of Sequatchie valley. l)y Spart:i. to Carthage and (Tainslio THE TIIKA TKR OF WAIL 57 rough, oil the Ciimbeilaud Kiver, which he crossed, unop- posed, on his wiiy to Kentucky. Two days after Bragg had started on liis march. Buell telegraphed to the commanding (officer at .^Iurt'reesborough: " Couki a good battlefiehl be chosen about Murfrees- borough. affording position for the flanks and rear of a hirge army. Report in as much detail as possible in cipher." Having thus advertised for a battlefield, he gave the order to concentrate on Nashville, leaving Bragg to pass undisturbed through a difficult region scarce a score of miles from the left of his army, and cross the Cumberland at his leisure. In this retreat, General Buell displayed his best qualities as a commander. His arrangements were, perhaps, the most perfect ever made for such a movement. As if on review, his army moved in the exact order pre- scribed for the various divisions and detachments. From Huntsville, Decatur, Bridgeport, Stevenson, Battle Creek, McMinnville, Decherd, and all the scattered intervening posts, the retreat began on schedule time, and was con- ducted with admirable precision. It was one of the most masterly retreats ever planned, as why should it not be, since there was none to oppose or obstruct, to hasten or hinder? In order to secure its complete success, General Buell asked, with urgent importunit}', that Grant would send, with all possible haste, two divisions to swell his army, already greater than that of the enemy from whom he fled, while that enemy romped leisurely down the west- ern slope of the Cumberland mountains into the fertile plains of Kentucky. This was done, and the movement was completed without the least variation from schedule time. Not a man or a wagon was lost, as, indeed, none could well be, unless they strayed from the line of march, since there was no enemy in front or rear for half a hun- dred miles, save one who was marching away from Nash- ville as eagerly as Buell was pressing toward it. Wiien his army was finally encamped upon the banks of the Cumberland, Bragg had already crossed that river, 58 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. and was preparing to fall upon Munfordvillf. Wla-ther the commander of the Army of the Ohio stopped in his march to the rear to inspect the battlefield for which he had adver- tised, near Murfreesborough. or not. is not now ascertain- able; })ut that he still believed that Bragg was merely maturing some fell plan to compass his destruction, there is abundant evidence, as also that it re((uired the whole force of the national administration to start him from Nash- ville on that leisurely march he finally made so close upon the rear of Bragg's army, that the dust of tlieir passage was hardly settled when his advance guard arrived. Only the most consummate skill could have avoided a collision with the army in his front, and inferior to him in numbers. or delayed his march long enough to permit the junction of the Confederate commander and his lieutenant in the heart of Kentucky. It was at this juncture of national affairs that the 'J'housand, the da}- after they were mustered in. reported to Major-General Horatio G. "Wright, commanding the Depart- ment of Ohio, at Cincinnati, and were ordered to cross t!ie river at Covington and wait for arms and equipments. VI i. ON SOUTHERN SOIL. LIGHT, wavering miat bung over tlie Obio river, sbrunk almost to its lowest sttige, wben, in tbe early dawn of its second day of service, the Thousand crossed the Fifth-street ferry and clam- bered up the ungraded hills to the pleasant streets of Cov- ington, Kentucky. It hardly needed the sight of blue uniforms, swords, and muskets, in the streets and at the ferries, to tell us that ,we had leached the theater of war. Two or three turtle- backed gunboats, lying at anchor in midstream, loom- ed out of the fog, their ports open, the smoke lazily lifting from their funnels, an armed watch showing on their decks. They seemed like giim black dogs, ready to leap on their prey, and our hearts exul- ted at the thought that tbe skill and ingenuity whidi freedom fosters had provided the cause of liberty with such formidable weapons. Shivery furnished abundant supplies for tbe armies that fought for its perpetuity; but its existence had starved and crippled that meclianical skill and inventive genius, on the development of which depends the power to construct the delicate and ponderou.s instrumentalities of modern warfare. Had tbe Confederacy possessed tbe constructive capacity and mechanical skill of tbe North, with its advantages of position, the war for tbe 59 60 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. restoration of the Union would, in all probability, have been a hopeless failure. But the hand which holds the lash is rarely skillful with the chisel or the lathe, and the wrong done to the slave brought its own fruitage of weak- ness to the master. We landed on the Kentucky shore near where the water-works now are, and climbed the hillside without forming ranks. Company G was the first to set foot in Dixie, and as we passed one of the cottages, which clung to the sharp slope, an aged woman, standing in the door. saluted us with a wave of the hand, and said : ' ' God bless you. boys, and bring you all safe home again ! " Many uncovered at this first greeting on southern soil, and Ser- geant Warner, whose heart was ever quick to acknowledge kindness, answered for all : " Thank you, moth- er, and may you be here to see us when we come!' The line was formed on Greenup street. Serot. Joseph K. VVarneu, Co. G. y^r^w^ ^e rested on the curb, the red sunlight began to show through the silvery haze, telling of drought and heat. An elderly gentleman came along carrying a market-basket. He Joseph Ritner Warner was born in Erie County, Pa., in 1836: attended KingsviUe, O. Academy, and was .studying law in Ashtabula, O., when he enlisted in Company G. He managed to stagger through the " Hell March," but was never well afterwards. He was urged to accept a dis- charge, but instead asked that he be reduced to the ranks and detailed as a clerk. He served in that capacity during the whole war to the surprise of every one who knew his physical condition. For many years he has been one of the most efficient clerks in the Pension Bureau, at Washington. D. C. ON SOUTHERN SOIL. (>l paused to inquire where we were from and to learn the names of our field officers. As he passed on some one told us that it was "Mr. Grant, the father of the fighting general.' One of the "boys," — a specimen of that sort of boys who never grow to be men, except upon the field of battle — made as if to filch an ear of corn from his store. Just then the fire-bells began to ring. "Wait awhile,' said the old man, good-naturedly, " and you will get a much better breakfast. Covington gives her defend- ers one good meal as a send-off, and those bells are ringing to let her people know that another regiment has arrived." The city made good its pledge of hospitality ; the tables in the market-house may not ha\e groaned with the viands spread out upon them, but some of the Thousand did before they were cleared off. It was a long time before they were to have such lavish hospitality forced upon them again. During the day Mr. G-rant came again. He chatted with the men as freely as with the officers. Wh}- should he not ? He was part and parcel of the life from which they came. He was very proud of his already famous sou, but not offensively so. It was not long before he learned that the young Major's "Grandmother Tod, " was the wife of Ohio's first chief justice, who was his own early bene- factor, whose kindness his great son was •unostentatiously to link with his own fame by frank acknowledgment in the book that resulted from that last heroic conflict with adverse fate, which was finished on Mount McGregor. But the father did not wait for the son's acknowledg- ment. He had the Colonel and the Major to dine with him, and the Thousand thought all the more of their major because his grandmother had befriended the father of General Grant, and had him ' ' apprenticed to the tan- ner's trade." So far does reflected glory shine ! When we had finished our repast, we turned our atten- tion to securing and distributing our arms and equipments. By some curious inconsistency, Commissary Sergeant Gibson THE STdUY n by thr>se who were his inferiors in all but rank. l>ut he carried under his hat. sometimes, the capacity" to set things even afterwards. Many a colonel has been out- ranked by scores of the privates of his regiment sinc-e their muster-out. and Gibson's i>en has given the c-ommissary sergeant of the Thousand a fame which no sword in the regiment won for its wearer. The equipment c»f the Thousand occupied three days. Who that has ever witnessed the result does not recall it with a smile? If anything has l>een omitted from the soldier's outfit that could rattle, flop. pull, di-ag. torture. and distort the wearer, it would be difficult to guess what it might l>e. When he has donned his cartiidge-lox. heavy with forty ix>unds; adjuste^l. as well as may be. his waist and shoulder belts: has hung his harersack. proti. l>erant with three days" rations, on one side, and his can- teen upon the other: has slung his knapsack upon his shoulders, the straps sawing away at his pectorals, as if Itound to amputate his arms: or has rolled his blanket and Company G. August 7. iSffi. He was promoted to comiiusiially marched and camped with the regiment, and during the Atlanta campaign he took his chances with the rest in the trenches. Though often under fire he was never wovmded. and had the rare good foitune never to be sick or off duty for a single day during the three years' service. At the close of the war, he spent several months in the oil regions o: Pennsylvania, then removed to Ann Arbor, where he graduated in the liter- ary department of the University of Michigan, in 1S69. For several years thereafter he was a reporter and editorial writer on the Detroit Po»t and Detroit Trih-iTie. In January. 1886. he became associate editor of the Cincin- nati Timf-f-^tar. a position he still (18K' holds. 64 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. liuug it across one shoulder, with, perhaps, his teut-cloth and poncho strung the other way. to maintain the harmony of the ensemble, his picturesque hideousness is not en- tirel}' complete until he reaches out his hand, grasps his rifle, and, with that poised upon his shoulder, realizes, both in his own feeling and the eye of the beholder, the immense distance between the citizen and the soldier. We very justly boast of the inventiveness of our people, but no appreciable amount of ingenuity has ever been wasted on the equipment of our soldiers. The pack-horse has a saddle to keep his load in place, but the soldier has to carry his pack without any such muscle-saving and spirit- saving device. Perhaps, if wars do not cease too soon, the government may some time grow paternal enough to con- sider the soldier's health and comfort, as well as the cheapness of his equipment. With military togs came militar}' terms. Titles toc>k the place of names. Shoulder-straps and chevrons began to assert themselves. Men came to be known by companies rather than as individuals. All the '• Misters "' disappeared with our first parade under arms. Drilling was incessant, despite the bustle attendant upon arming and equipment, the making out of the duplicate and triplicate vouchers for everything required by army regulations. The streets were filled, early and late, with awkward squads; each one's awkwardness proving an encouragement to the other. It may not be true that misery loves com- pany, but ignorance does; and nothing encourages a raw recruit so much as the sight of a still rawer one. There were not many drill-masters, for the best part of the officers were as untrained as the men; but each one taught his fel- low what he knew. When the squads were dismissed drill went on in the quarters. What one failed to catch, his comrade showed him how to do. It is amazing how much was accomplished in this way, especially in the manual of arms, in the three davs in which we lav at Covington. YITi. THE " IIELL-MARCEl." It was ti time of intense excitement, — the conscious hush before a storm of threefold fury. The Federal army was in widely separated localities; with Pope in Virginia; where the disastrous cam- paign of the peninsula had just ended; with Grant in Mississippi, and with Jiuell in Middle Tennessee; while eight thousand men under General George \V. Morgan occupied an impregnable position in Cumberland Gap. All at once, the country awoke to the fact that this force was in danger; the Con- federate general, E. Kirby Smith, had collected an army in East Tennessee. Wliat was he going to do with it? The "On the March." military experts generally agreed that his purpose was to besiege General Morgan in the gap, try to cut off his supplies, and starve him into sur- render. General Buell thought the movement against Gen- eral Morgan was merely a feint, and that the force collected at Knoxville was Intended to co-operate with Bragg on an advance into middle Tennessee. Both were half right. It was Bragg's first intention to drive back Buell's left, cut his line of communication, the Louisville and Nashville railroad, and compel him either to fight at a disadvantage or retreat across the Tennessee. In the meantime, "N'an Dorn was to 65 (50 THE STORY OF A TIJOUSANB allack (iriint, Kiiby Smith to invest Cumberland Gap, and, after its redu'jtion, invade Kentucky, in order t(^ prevent troops being sent to the support of Buell. On the 9th of August, however, General Kirby Smith had suggested to Bragg a change of plan, by which, instead of trying to reduce the work at Cumberland Gap, he should only invest it on the south w^th a sufficient force to prevent the enemy s advance, while, with his main army, he should march through Big Creek and Roger's Gaps, concentrating at Barboursville, Kentucky, and advance immediately on Lexington. He also suggested that General Bragg, instead of operating directly against General Buell, should content himself with cutting that General's line of supply, and then turned northward, advancing by forced marches so us to unite their armies at some point in Kentucky, and move on Cincinnati or Louisville before any sufficient force could be provided for their defense. This magnificent plan of campaign excelled, both in bold- ness of design and evident and unquestionable feasibility, all other aggressive campaigns of the war. Tt proposed to throw an invading army upon the wholly undefended center of a long line, both of the wings of which were fully en- gaged, and, at the same time, demonstrate upon the flank of the enemy's chief armies in such a manner as either to compel a battle on the most disadvantageous terms, or, the abandonment of all the territory that lay between the Ten- nessee and Ohio rivers. Whoever might have been at the head of the Array of the Ohio, the success of this plan, if properly supported and vigorously carried out, would have been extremely probable; with Buell in command, it was morally certain. Had it succeeded, the result would have been to transfer the line of active operations from the banks of the Tennessee to the Ohio; it would have added the State of Kentucky to the territory of the Confederacy, and might, very reasonably, have turned the scale of final victory in its favor. Had it been properly supported and conducted with the same boldness and enthusiasm with which it was TlIK IIELL-MARCH. «)7 conceived and initiated, its author would have l)ecome to tlie Confederate cause what Grant was to the war for the Union, tlie one great captain wliose achievements (iwarfed all others and bore down criticism with the unanswerable argument of results accomplished. The i)lan had two defects: (1) its author was mferior in rank to the general with whom he was to be associated, and to whom he was to be sul)ordinate in its ultimate exe- cution ; (2) the force under the command of the officer hav- ing the initiative and most active, if not most important part to play, was entirely disproportionate to the magnitude of the work entrusted to him. Had Kirby Smith been given ten thousand more men, or even one more division and Morgan's cavalry, and had General Bragg moved a week earlier, as he promised General Smith he would; had he, even, starting when he did, contented himself with destroy- ing Buell's communications, masked Muufordville instead of waiting to reduce it, and pushed on to a rendezvous at Louisville, on a certain day, there is no reason to doubt that he would have found that city in the hands of his co- adjutor on his arrival. The Federal military authorities were at first inclined to adopt the views of General Buell as to the strength and object of the arm}' under Kirby Smith, concentrating at Knoxville, in East Tennessee. After a time, the impres- sion gained ground that it was intended to operate against General Morgan at Cuinl)erland Gap, l)y cutting off his sup- plies. Then the popular sentiment was aroused to appre- hension of an actual invasion of Kentuck}', with a possible movement against Cincinnati and Louisville, both of which important points were almost wholly defenseless. General Buell was ordered to take measures for the relief of the force at Cumberland Gap. He replied, as usual, with an argument against the step required. Nevertheless, he sent General Nelson, with three brigadiers of his division, to do whatever might need to be done. With the knowledge that Smith had actually marched, apprehension gave waj* to an excitement closely verging ou G8 77/ A' STOIiV OF A THOUSAND. panic. On the 16th of August, the Secretary of War tele- graphed the governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Mich- igan, begging them to send troops at once to Cincinnati and Louisville; on the next day. Governor Tod promised four regiments in five days. The Thousand was the first instal- ment on this pledge. On the nineteenth, the Department of Ohio was formed, and General Horatio G. Wright as- signed to command, with orders, first, to relieve General Morgan, and then to see that General Buell's communications were made secure. The discharge of this duty implied, first of all, the creation of an army of sufficient strength to resist what- ever force Kirby Smith might have, and, secondly, its disposition in such manner as to baffle any movement he might make. Of such an army, the' govern- ors of the States named, furnished, with marvel- ous readiness, the raw materials. But it is not an easy thing to create an army even with an abundance of the best material. It requires something more than men and arm^; it needs a leader and an esprit COHP. KoiiT. A. RoWI.KK. Co, (' Robert Allison Rowlee was born in Wethersfleld, Trumbull County, Ohio, November 15, 1841. Enlisted as private in Company C; was promoted to corporal, December 18, 1862, and served as such to the close of the war. He was in every march, battle and skirmish in which the regiment was engaged but received no wound. Since the war, he has resided in Lorain, O., where he has been prominent in municipal politics, church work and charit- able organizations, in many of which he has held high rank. He is of such youthful appearance that he has to carry his discharge in his pocket to make strangers believe that he really " fit through the war." THE IIELL-MARGH. 69 which shall pervade its every particle. There are two methods by which, given men and arms, an army may be created: one is by the tedious process of daily drill, con- tinued until the soldier becomes a machine and obedience a habit; the other is by the leadership of one in whom every soldier has an unfaltering confidence. The one requires time — the other, a man. Napoleon made his raw levies veterans in a day. One who has best described his method, repre- sents an old soldier as saying to a newly-arrived conscript: ' ' What is it to be a soldier? To march, to load, to aim, to fire! To die, if need be, without a word. One learns it in a day. The Petit Corporal does the rest!" This is the secret: courage, a little skill, a world of faith. The ability to transform a mob of brave men into an army which can win victories is the rarest of all qualities, and especially rare in professional soldiers. The study of military science seems to blunt the power on which, above all other qualities, success depends. Grant had it, Viecause he assumed that his men were as willing to do their duty as he was himself. "Stonewall" Jackson had it, because his men saw in him an invincible determination aud a confidence in himself, which no failure could daunt and no obstacle ])affle. He achieved apparent impossibilities because he lacked the power to doubt. Others developed it in greater or less degree as the war went on. General Wright was not of this type. As a cool, level-headed, faithful organizer.^ a man who kept all the threads of a great work, suddenly thrust upon him, steadily in hand, never once losing sight of any part by absorption in any other part, his administra- tion of the short-lived Department of the Ohio will always remain a testimony of the highest soldierly steadfastness and remarkaV)le executive ability. Few men have ever done so mucU under such hopeless conditions as he accomplished in his first month in this com- mand. He had not, however, the power to inspire men to supreme exertion; or, if he had, did not feel at liberty to take his hand off the throttle of the great engine under his 70 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. control long enough to lead an army against the enemy which threatened the line committed to his care. To his credit be it said, however, he knew the man who could do this very thing, and begged, again and again, that Sheridan might be sent to command the army opposite Cincinnati. "Sheridan," he wrote to Halleck, '-would be worth his weight in gold." Given Sheridan to command the raw levies. General Wright promised that he would speedily drive Kirby Smith out of Kentucky. Had his prayer been granted, how different would have been the history of the next two months ! Instead of Sheridan, General Wright had as commander of his Army of Kentucky, Gen. William Nelson, a man, in spite of many excellencies, peculiarly unfitted for the task assigned him. Impetuous and daring to a fault, he lacked the power of conciliating and inspiring others. Long service in the navy had poorly prepared him for the command of volunteer troops, unless, by experience, they had come to appreciate his good qualities and overlook his harshness and severity. He lacked breadth and scope, and was without that subtlet}' which previses an enemy's purpose, or the self- control which foils an opponent by skilful disposition when- ever doubt exists with regard to his strength or purpose. He treated his superiors with arrogance and his inferiors with brutality. If invective could have destroyed, he would have annihilated both his enemies and his friends. Such a man, no matter what his military capacity, was certainly not likely to succeed in the command of raw troops, whose intelligence he insulted with profane diatribes, whose ardor he cooled by harsh rebuke, and whose effectiveness he well- nigh destroyed )ty lack of confidence. Besides this, he was an especial favorite with, and admirer of, General Buell, by whom he had been relieved from the command of his division, then lying at McMinn- ville, Tennessee, early in August, when the rumor of an invasion of Kentucky first arose, and with three of his bri- gade commanders, Generals Manson, Cruft, and James S. V THE JIELL -MARCH. 71 Jackson, assigned to command the forces in Ibis State. before be arrived, bowever, tbe Department of tbe Obio bad been created and General Wrigbt assigned to it. Tliis department emViraced Kentncky, Obio, Indiana, Illinois, and Micbigan, and put General Nelson and bis forces under Gen- eral Wrigbt's command. Wbetber Nelson regarded tbis as an affront to bimself or to General Buell, it is certain tbat be did not act in barmony witb bis new superior, bis conduct and language sometimes verging upon nisubordination. Tbor- ougbly imbued with the views and policy of bis old commander, he seemed unable to rid bimself of tbe idea tbat General Buell was still in control of bis move- ments. It was no doubt largely due to tbis un- fortunate bias in favor of bis commander, tbat General Nelson's dis- position of tbe forces in bis new command was, apparently, in direct viola- lion of tbe orders of bis department commander, and resulted in useless and inexcusable disaster. Hardly was the last belt-plate issued and tbe voucher for it signed, when tbe Thousand were ordered to tbe front. It was a hot, dusty ride to Lexington, eighty miles to the southward; but they were eager eyes which scanned SEiuiT. John F. Humiston, Co. E. John F. Humiston was born in Charleston, Portage County. Ohio, in 1839. His parents moved to Chester, Geauga County, where he lived until the breaking out of the war. He enlisted in the 7th Ohio regimental band in July, 1861, and was discharged in June, 1862. Re-enlisting in the lOnih he. became a sergeant of Company E, and was mustered out with the regiment. He went to Minnesota in 1872. and is now engaged in the hardware trade at Huron Lake. Jackson County, of that State. 72 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. from the roofs and doors of crowded freight-cars the unac- customed scene. What was the ineradicable stamp which slavery left upon the land and people which it touched? Hardly a score of the Thousand had ever been on slave ter- ritory before, and each felt at once its strange unaceus- tomedness. The houses, the fields, the people gathered at the stations, all bore the impress of another life. It was a surprise, almost, to hear the same language spoken; and one noted, instinctively, that the master had bound the slaves limbs, the slave had put his seal upon the master's tongue. It was '-Dixieland;" we felt its charm, though we did not define the cause. The grass was parched and sere upon the softly rounded hills; the pools were dry; the low branching oaks showed brown and dusty under the sum- mer sunshine; the wild wormwood grew rank and green above the stubble; the shorthorns I'oamed restlessly about, vexed with thirst and stung with flies. It was rich and beautiful, the famous Blue Grass region that unfolded itself before our appreciative gaze — but the Blue Grass region lying parched and glistening in the heat and dust of an almost unprecedented drouth. Yet even then, when at night we made our first bivouac on a sloping hillside, with a fringe of noble trees upon the crest, a tiny stream trickling from a placid pool that lay below a great spring-house, through the mossy stones of which its waters fell; a spacious mansion in a stateh' grove upon the opposite hill, with its white '-slave quarters" glistening in the moonlight, there was not one among them who did not feel, not only that he was in a foreign land, but that he had never looked upon a fairer scene. From the mansion there was no greeting. An overseer, with a. chronic snarl upon his face, came to inquire and object to our intrusion. A colored woman sold milk and butter at the spring-house until there was no more to sell. After the guards were set, black figures stole softly' down from the -'quarters," crept up to the sentinels, who, scrupulous in the discharge of their duties, kept the sergeant of the THE HELL -MARCH. 73 guard busy bringing them to the oHicer on duty. They came into his presence with soft, apologetic steps, making excuse as the instinctive knowledge of character which slavery gave, taught them to do, asked a few questions; answered cautiously such questions as were asked, showing clearly that prescience of a result, which the wisest and most hopeful dared hardly anticipate, which marked the slave's view of the situation everywhere. After a little, they slipped away, one by one, the officer making no attempt to detain them. The har v'cst-moon shone brightly on the rows of sleep, ing men, each one of whom had his new rifle close beside him. Were they not on the very theater of action? This was the military situation when, on the 25tli of August, Adjutant Bobbins reported the Thousand to Gen- eral Nelson, in command of the District of Kentucky, at his headquarters in Lexington, eighty miles due south of Cin- cinnati, on the road to Cumberland Gap. Fifteen miles be- yond runs the Kentucky river; ten miles farther on is the town of Richmond, just beyond which were camped two brigades under General Manson, numbering about seven thousand men. There were troops at Lancaster; a brigade at Nicholasville; some regiments at Versailles; a camp at Frankfort, and two brigades at Lexington. These, with Dumont's division at Lebanon and other points on the Louisville and Nashville railroad, constituted the Army of Kentucky under General Nelson's command. General Boyle, at Louisville, and the garrisons of Bowling Green and Munfordville received orders directly from General Wright, the department commander. The troops in and about Lexington, General Nelson estimated a few days later, at sixteen thousand men. Seventy miles beyond Richmond, at Barboursville, lay the Confederate general, Kirby Smith, with the force he brought through Roger's and Big Creek Gaps. He was twenty-five miles to the rear of Cumberland Gap, where the Federal general, George W. Morgan, was shut up with seven thousand men. 74 TIIK STORY OF A J HO US AX f). TlR-re were two unknown (juantitie.s in this situation: first, how many troops luid tiie Confederate general? second, what did he intend to do with tiiem? As to the first, General Smith's force had been reported all the way from fifteen hundred to thirty thousand men. They were veterans; the Federal forces about Lexington were all raw levies. General Wright seems to have thought Cincinnati was the Confederate objective. General Buell thought Smith in- tended to march westward, cut the railroad, and join Bragg in his expected movement on Nashville. General Nelson agreed, as usual, with General Buell. Indeed, his despatches read like an echo of his old commanders thought. The da}' before, August 'lAi\\. (ieneral Wright gave (jeneral Nelson this order: '•If the enemy is in force, get your troops togetlier and do not risk a general battle at Richmond, unless you are sure of success. Better fall Ixick to a more defensible position, say the Kentucky river, than risk much." To this General Nelson had replied, from ]..exington, on the same day. ••The enemy variously estimated from tifteeii hundred to eight thousand at or near Richmond. I fear it is Kirby Smith that has come up. I will go to Richmond myself tonight. ' Clinging fast to the hypothesis, that General Smith's objective was the Louisville and Nashville railroad, which he wished to cut, en route to join Bragg in his expected move upon Nashville, General Nelson seems to have con- cluded that he would march west from Rogersville and London, rather than advance on Lexington, through Rich- mond. To meet this purely hypothetical and wholly ab- surd movement, instead of obeying the explicit order of his department commander, he directed Dumont to march U) l)an\ille, and sent Jackson with his brigade to Nicholas- vdle, intending to concentrate at Lancaster to intercept the eneniv. Had his views of the Confederate general's TIIK IIKLL-MAUVH. 1^ strengtU tiud purpose been correct, the combiuatiou he planned might liave been well enough; as against a superior force of veteran troops, under an enterprising leader, it was a movement which should never have been attempted. The simple fact is that General Nelson believed Gen- eral Smiths strength did not exceed eight thousand men, that.being the number of the two divisions which had made the wonderful march through Roger's Gap under his immediate command, entirely omitting from his estimate Heth's divi- sion of seven thousand, who came through Big Creek Gap, the brigade of cavalry which preceded them, and the five thousand from Stevenson's command, with which General Smith had been reinforced. Because he chose not to be- lieve these reports, he felt at liberty to disobey the com- mand of his superior. While the Thousand slept in their first bivouac, Gen- eral Bragg's order for his army to move out of the Sequat- chie valley by way of Sparta, en route to Glasgow, Ken- tucky, was being carried to his corps commanders. On that night, BuelFs adjutant-general. Colonel Fry, telegraphed from the headquarters of his chief, who was waiting to be attacked at Decherd, Tennessee, to General Rousseau, at Huntsville, Alabama: "No fight; Bragg is very slow; if he wants one, he can have it. We are all ready."' Bragg was indeed "slow," — a whole week behind the date he had fixed to begin his march to meet Smith in Cen- tral Kentucky; but it would be still another week, when he had crossed the Cumberland river without opposition, be- fore the credulous and self-conscious Buell would believe that he was going to Kentucky instead of coming to fight him upon a battlefield near Murfreesborough, for which he made special inquiry four days later, as we have seen. There were four days of quiet camp-life — the very poetry of war. The tents were pitched in a magnificent grove: a hundred acres of brown pasture, baked with drouth until it echoed like a tiled floor beneath the tread, served a^s our drill-ground. We mocked at rumors of impending 70 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. peril, because we heard that our commaiider did so and read the veracious reports which appeared in the journals of the North. War news was manufactured far more readily then, and in more slipshod fashion than would be tolerated now. Anything to fill a column, the more startling and improb- able it was the better, seemed to be the rule. In that way, the men who fought the battles became terribly tangled in regard to what really happened and what was reported to have happened. Not seldom the latter has gone upon the record as veritable history, and the former been forgotten or regai'ded as merely fanciful. The days were full of duty; study and drill for otHcers and men alike. Squad and company movements, the man- ual of arms, and the simplest of battalion maneuvers were practised with the utmost assiduity. No such luxury as target-shooting was indulged, nor was volley-firing permit-, ted, except to the guard, who were allowed to fire their guns when relieved from duty. Because of this privilege, detail for guard duty was then as eagerly sought for as it came afterwards to be avoided. Fortunately, most of the regiment had been used to firearms from boyhood. Tlif routine of loading was somewhat diilerent, but the general handling of the piece was the same. Our arms were the Springfield muzzle-loaders, an excellent weapon of its kind. But one cannot help wondering now, why was it not until June, 18G3, that the magazine rifle was first used in action by our soldiers? It was not because they were not procur- able, for a half-dozen firms were pressing their adoption on the government. There were two reasons given: one that there was a job behind the delay on which the fortunes of some of our statesmen depended; another, that the officers of the regular army thought it an unjustifiable extravagance to put rapid-firing guns into the hands of vi^lunteers. They insisted that only long training could prepare the soldier to use the muzzle-loader efl'ectually, and, of course, a much longer period would be necessary to teach them to load and fire a breech-loader. The reasoniuii was not entirelv without THE HELL-MARCH. 77 fault, but it is characteristic of the class to which it wa? attributed, that one is inclined to believe both stories, and conclude that our army was deprived of more efficient weap- ons for two years, by the combined forces of prejudice and profit. Possibly, neither is the true reason; perhaps it was genuine fear that the more intricate mechanism of the mag- azine breech-loader unfitted it for army use. At any rate, the fact remains, and the Thousand learned its manual with the cheerful ring of the iron ramrods in the empty barrels, to aid the officer in timing his commands in firing-drill. On the 30th of August, the ninth day after muster-in, the regiment was engaged, between drills, in drawing the last of our equipments, blankets, overcoats and shoes. Hitherto, we had had only a half a blanket apiece, and even this supply was somewhat short; but in the dog-days a little cover suffices. Most of the men had supplied them- selves with rubber ponchos. The heavy double blankets which the placid quartermaster and his hustling sergeant deposited in every company street looked terribly burden- some to the perspiring soldiers, Avhose knapsacks were already full to bursting with the clothing which a generous government had heaped upon them with a too lavish hand. They had no more need of overcoats and double blankets in August, in the very stress of a Kentucky drouth, than they had for foot-stoves or warming-pans; but they had not yet learned to limit their demands to their necessities, and hav- ing a chance to draw supplies, supposed the correct thing was to take all that was going. Whoever ordered requisi- tions for winter clothing at that time, earned some deserved curses during the six eventful days that followed, and many more, afterwards, when the men came to realize how this extra clothing had eaten into their pay accounts. The issue was but half-completed when the long-roll sounded for the first time in earnest. How the palpitating drums throbbed and echoed! How the quickening pulses answered! In all the world there is nothing like this instant, imperative call to arms. In a moment all els" is forgotten. 78 THE STORY OF A THOUSAND. '•Fall iu!" echoes from end to end of the camp. The men lounging in their shirt-sleeves run for their clothes and equipments. Officers rush to their quarters and don their side-arms. All over the camp is the buzz of wondering inquiry, the snapping of belt-plates, and the hum of hurried preparation. Orderlies align their companies and begin their roll-calls. The adjutant passes down the line giving a hurried verbal order to each company commander: "The regiment will move in an hour in light marching order, with two days' rations, and forty rounds of ammuni- tion! " The rations were unobtainable, but the ammunition was distributed, and the quartermaster ordered to follow Avith the rations. There were rumors of a fight in progress. The rumble of artillery had come to us on the sultr\' air just as the afternoon drill began; some said it was artil- lery, while others thought it thunder. There had been four heavy detonations in rapid succession, and then silence. Just as the sun went down the Thousand marched out of its first camp, on its way towards a field of battle where the fight had already been lost. It was our first march. The road was the rough stone pike so common in Kentucky and Tennessee. It was past midnight when we halted, a dozen miles from Lexington, and throwing out pickets in front and on the flanks, lay down in a cornfield in line of battle and slept until dawn. Then we moved forward nearly to the Kentucky line, where we halted to allow the shattered fragments of a defeated army to pass us to the rear. This time it was not the unexpected that happened: what had been clearly and unmistakably indicated, had occurred. Kirby Smith had marched from Barboursville on the morning of the twenty-seventh. On the twenty- ninth his cavalry had driven in General Hanson's pickets. That officer had formed his brigade and marched forward two or three miles, driving back the Confederate advance- guard in a sharp skirmish. He did not send any order to TlIK UKLL MARCH. 79 General Cruft, oomuiiiudiug the other brigade, two miles in his rear. It is evident that he shared the general belief, that instead of an invading force, the troops in front were a mere raiding party, which he coveted the glory of dis- persing without assistance. So, instead of retreating, as the department commander had ordered, behind the Ken- tucky river, he advanced with only half his force and gave battle. Elated by apparent success, he fancied that he had driven back the whole force of the enemy, and sent a message to the commander of his other brigade, that he could maintain his position and needed no assistance. So, a little army of less than eight thousand raw levies lay all night in front of double their number of veterans, gather- ing through the jiight to overwhelm them. As if this were not odds enough, the Union general had divided his little force into two parts, with an interval of five miles between them. Before the fight began he had reported to General Nelson, at Lexington, that the enemy had appeared in his front and he '-anticipated an engagement." Nelson imme- diately sent orders to him not to fight, but to retreat on the Lancaster road. With his usual impetuosity, which coun- ted an order made as already executed. Nelson, racked with gout, procured a buggy and started for Lancaster, lavishing curses upon all whom he conceived in :iny way responsible for the discomfort he suffered. He expected, very unreasonably, to find Mansou at Lancaster, where he arrived at half-past nine on tlie morn- ing of the thirtieth. Instead, he heard the boommg of cannon in the direction of Richmond. Procuring fresh horses, he set out in the direction of the firing, and stealing along unfrequented byways, at half -past two in the after- noon he came upon the field already lost beyond the hope of recovery. He rode among the fleeing fugitives frenzied with rage, raining curses and blows upon them, commanding them to stand and fight. A few obeyed ; a wavering line was foi'ined. The enemy advanced with their accustomed yell; there were a few hasty volleys; then the line gave way 80 THE SrORY OF A THOUSAND. aud the tide of fugitives surged to t)ie rear, only to be liemmed in by the enemy's cavalry, which swarmed ahead of the wings and enveloped the doomed multitude as in a net. Wounded in the foot, raging with pain and chagrin. Nelson somehow escaped and reached Lexington during the night of the thirtieth. Graft's brigade had been brought forward before Nelson's arrival on the field, and was in- volved in the general rout. The loss was 210 killed, 844 wounded, and 4800 captured. One-third of the Army of Kentucky had been practically annihilated. The blame, as usual, was laid upon the troops, who were said to have been •struck with a panic," and " being raw troops, broke and ran after a few volleys," instead of upon the rash and in- capable general to whose blindness and flagrant disobedi- ence of orders this great disaster was clearly due. With this tide of defeat, the Thousand returned to Lexington, where they arrived at nine o'clock at night in the midst of a drenching shower, only to meet an order to go on picket. They had marched with hardly half a day's rations instead of the amount ordered, that being all the (quartermaster could supply, and few had eaten since morn- ing. These facts being reported, the order to go on picket was revoked, and they were directed to bivouac in the market-house, where coffee and an abundant supply of bread and meat were served to them. It was midnight when we sank to rest after our first march — a march of twenty-eight miles in less than thirty' hours — on the rough pavement of the market-place, a foot. so re and weary mul. titude. On the morrow, the evacuation of Lexington began. At eight o'clock we were ordered out on the Nicholasville pike. All day long the work of destroying government stores which had accumulated at this point went on. The smoke of their burning hung over the city, while clouds of dust rose from the roads to the westward leading to Ver- sailles and Frankfort, on which our wagon-trains were already in motion. To the south and southeastward were THE UELL -MARCH. 81 other dust-clouds, showing the course of the main body of the enemy, who, having crossed the Kentucky river, were advancing on Lexington, and of Heth's division, which reached Winchester that afternoon. The day was setting when the Thousand marched through the streets of Lexing- ton — the last regiment of the Army of Kentucky on its re. treat to Louisville, ninety-five miles away, as the crow flies, a hundred and more by the roads we were to take. A small battalion of cavalry waited at the outskirts of the town for us to pass. They were to constitute the mounted rear- guard. Some time in the night they missed the way and followed the first division of the wagon-train, which had taken another road, leaving us on the eleventh da}' of our service in the most trying of all military positions, that of rear-guard of an army fleeing from a victorious foe. So far as the enemy's infantry were concerned, we had one full day's start of them. Their cavalry might, indeed, overtake us, but if we succeeded in crossing the Kentucky river be- fore they did so, we would be secure from attack thereafter. This river flows through a deep and precipitous gorge, mak- ing it practically impassable, save by bridge or ferry, below a point nearly due south from Lexington. If the enem}' had crossed his main force to the right bank of the river, as seemed probable, we had only to cross to the left bank, at Clifton and Frankfort and destroy three or four bridges to be safe from his pursuit for several days. If he divided his forces and left part upon the left bank, he would have this impassable barrier between them. This it was not at all likely he would do. When, therefore, we passed through Lexington and took the road to Versailles, we supposed the plan of retreat was to cross that river, de- stroy the bridges and ferries, and make it, at least, a tem- porary line of defense. The knowledge that before another nightfall we might be safe beyond this great defensive bar- rier buoyed us up with that strange confidence a soldier feels when he believes that his commander has outwitted bis antagonist. 83 77/ A' srORY OF A rilOU8AND. The day before, General Nelson, suffering from the pain of his wound and the chagrin of his defeat at Rich- mond, had relinquished the command of the Army of Ken- tucky. This devolved the command of the forces about Lexington either upon General James S. Jackson, com- manding the cavalry brigade, or General Charles Cruft, the junior brigadier in the disastrous fight at Richmond. Neither of these officers being professional soldiers, desired to assume a merely temporary command at so critical a junc- ture. General Horatio G. Wright, commanding the de partment, therefore assumed the responsibility of usurping the constitutional powers of the President, and appomted Capt. C. C. Gilbert, of the First regular infantry, a major- general, and assigned him to the command of the Army of Kentucky during General Nelson's disability. At the same time, and in the same curious manner, Capt, William R. Terrill, of the Fifth regular artillery, was made a brigadier- general. It was under the command of General Gilbert, with Generals Jackson, Cruft, and Terrill as subordinates, that the retreat to Louisville was made. No report of this movement is to be found in the Official Record of the War of Rebellion, either by the officer in command or any of his subordinates. This is especially singular when we reflect that General Gilbert was a great stickler for regularity, and his command must have consisted of at least eight thousand infantry, witli two regiments of cavalry and three batteries of artillery. What accessions it received at Versailles and Frankfort is unknown. Surely, so important a movement of so considerable an army at so critical a time, was not of so little importance as to be unworthy of a report. The artillery was under the command of General Terrill. The cavalry rear-guard was commanded by Captain Gay, who was soon after made chief of cavalry of the Army of Ken- tucky, and then assigned to the same position in the Army of Ohio. He was another instance of a regular army cap- tain assigned to high command without regard to the rank of his volunteer subordinates. THE UK L J. -MARC II. 83 It had not rained for many weeks save the shower of the night before, which had hardly reached a mile west of Lexington. The dust lay ankle deep upon the hard, hot, limestone pike. The forces that preceded us with their numerous wagons, had raised a cloud which hung over the road, shutting out even the walls and fences on either side. The setting sun shone red and dim through the yellow mass. Each man was weighed down with knapsack and accoutre- ments. We knew nothing of our destination, or the length of the march before us. Had the knapsacks been burned at' the outset, many more would have reached the goal. Men were invisible a few steps away; near at hand, they could only be distinguished by their voices. There were frequent halts, but no rest. When the column ahead got jammed up on itself, we waited until it straightened out. Sometimes it was a minute, sometimes ten or twenty min- utes. The yellow, acrid dust settled on beard and hair, got into the eyes and mouth, and burned the parched throat; while the perspiration made muddy channels down every face. The night fell hot and murky. The dust-cloud shut out the stars. By and by the moon rose; the night grew chill, but still the dust rose in choking clouds. The orders forbade details to leave the road in search of water. Men were sent on in advance, in hope that thay might fill the canteens before the wells were drained. Long before mid- night net a drop remained. In spite of orders, a few men were sent out to search for water. It was a strange country. The pools and streams were dr}'. The wells had been exhausted by those in front. Many of the people were compelled to haul water from a distance for domestic use. These details returned empty-handed as the others had done. About this time colored men came, one by one, and offered to bring water, to carry guns or knapsacks, — any- thing, if they could only follow us. They were loaded down with canteens and accompanied by a few men started for water. An hour after they returned, staggering under 84 THE HTORY OF A TlfOUSANJ). their loads of drippiug canteens. Was ever water half so sweet! Yet we had scarcely begun to know what thirst is. The march would have been a severe one to seasoned, unencumbered veterans; to these men. yet foot-sore, galled. and weary from their first long marcli, and weighted down with knapsacks, overcoats, and bhmkets, in addition to ammunition and accoutrements, it was terrible. After a time, the men ceased to scatter to the roadside when there came a halt. They had no strength to spare, and the road- side was almost as dusty as the pike. So they merely knelt down in their places, bowed themselves forward to relieve the strain on the straps that galled and cut int(j the shoul- der, and slept. In the moonlight they looked like heaps (jf dust, or pilgrims fallen asleep at prayer. At the word, they stumbled to their feet, sometimes awake, sometimes asleep, and staggered on. The ambulances were soon full. It was said, there were wagons somewhere in front in which those who were unable to go further might l)e transported. But when a man can go no farther, such provision is of little good. "We were the rear of the column; back of us was only our own rear-guard and the enemy. There were several alarms during the night; firing off at the left, then at the right, then in our rear. It was probably marauding bands of guerrillas, who set upon our men in search of water. Once we were stampeded. There iiad been a longer halt than usual. The dusty fugitives knelt in the road, or were stretched out beside it. There was an uproar at the rear; the sound of galloping hoofs upon the pike. There was a cry of "Rebs!"' "Cavalr}-! "' Every sleeping figure sprang suddenly to life. Men ran over each other, stumbled, sprawled headlong, then rose and fled over the wall into an adjoining field; across that to a bit of wood. When the pike was clear, a big, gray mule came charging down it, frisking his tail, and making night hideous with his discordant bray. One lieutenant, who found himself, on waking, pinioned between two rocks, THE JlELL-yfARCH. Sr, had no sooner extricated himself than, impressed with the ludicrousness of the situation, he posted himself in the middle of the pike, and between roars of laughter began to shout: "'Fall in, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio!" He was cursed with a gift of mimicry, and it may be that half- unconsciously he imitated the tones of his superiors; l)ut he had no purpose to give offense, nor any idea that his levity would disturb any one's self-complacency, until a man who was tugging at a bridle-rein remarked that he did not "see anything to make such a damned clamor over,' adding, "You seem to think it funny, but we shall never hear the last of that darned mule! " Sure enough, we never have. At each reunion that beast is trotted out, and now everybody laughs at our " mule stampede." The lieutenant had to pay a sore price for his untimely jest, but in that case, as in many another, " he laughs best who laughs last." The morning was already hot and lurid as the dusty column crept through Versailles, and after an hour's halt for breakfast, pressed on toward Frankfort. The enemy had followed the cavalry by way of Big Spring, so that our rear was undisturbed until we were in sight of Frankfort. The sun was going down when we reached the capital of Kentucky. It is but twenty-nine miles from Lexington by the most direct route. The one by which we had come was half a dozen more. It could hardly be termed a mai'ch; it was a flight. For the first time the Thousand saw at Frankfort, the semblance of an army. The streets were full of trains. Lines of blue-couted, dusty men found their way between them or lay stretched upon the sidewalks. The cavalry came scurrying in upon their jaded horses, reporting the enemy in force only a little way out. Columns were march- ing heavil}- this way and that, taking positions covering the roads from the eastward. Guns were posted on com- manding eminences. Despite the seeming confusion, there were not lacking evidences of order. For a half. hour we 8(3 TJIK STORY OF A TllOUHAND. lay upon a gentle slope which overlooked the valley, and watched the dispositions made for defense. We could see the long line of wagons moving toward the bridge, and stretching from the bridge away westward. It was evident that there was to be no long delay at this point, and equally evident that it was to be held until the trains had crossed the river. Thus far, we had known almost nothing of our com- manding officers. "We understood that we were in Colonel Anderson's brigade, and Gen. James S. Jackson's division; but as to what composed either the brigade or the division, we were w it ho u t knowledge. Even now it is almost impossible to ascertain the facts. "We knew that General Jackson was a Kentuckian, who had been in command of the cavalry of the Army of Kentucky be- fore the fight at Rich- mond. Strangely CoKP. Bliss Morse, Co. D. enough, these two facts did much to inspire confidence in him. The raw recruit has always a most exaggerated idea of the efficiency of cavalry, and the Confederate general, John H. Morgan, had already made famous the Kentucky cavalry. Then, too, there was a ))ewildering intricacv in southern roads to those accustomed Bliss Morse was born November 11, 1837, in LeRoy, Lake County, Ohio, lived on his fathei's farm until he enlisted in Company D, of which he was made corporal, and mustered out with the regiment in that capacity He was in nearly all the operations of the regiment; was among those captured with the forage train on January 21, 1863. in front of Murfreesborough. The writer is indebted to him for the account given of the treatment accorded the enlisted men on that occasion. His home is now at Breckinridge. Mo. TUK HRLL-MAR