Yaie University Lil)ta[y

39002003971174

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Purchased from the income
of the bequest of
WILLIAM ROBERTSON COE
Honorary M.A. 1949, for
material in the field
of American Studies.

STEEDMAN

AND

HIS MEN

AT

(^HICKAMAUGA

J. T. WOODS, M. D.

TOLEDO :
BLADE PRINTING & PAPER CO
1876.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1876, ty
J. T. Woods.
Tn the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washins^ton, D. C.

ac)

HON. M. R. WAITE,
CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES,
-WHOSE DISTINCTION IS EQUALED n\ HIS MERITS,
IS
.. -( WITH PERMISSION )
MOffl* RESPECTFULL^ DEDICATED,
ISV HI.S FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

This unpretentious volume is nothing more than a
contribution to the history of a great battle. The
authority from which it has been prepared is given
in an accompanying letter from the distinguished actor
who has furnished its data, the writer assuming nothing
save the manner of their presentation.
It is not hoped that either criticism or censure will
be avoided, but deeming that justice demands that his
tory should not only be truth, but the whole truth, these
pages have been prepared without fear or favor, the
author seeking to do strict justice to both the deserving
and the recreant.
In presenting the part taken by a single division of
troops, such general reference to the battle as a whole
as would render their action more readily understood,
has necessarily been made ; and that the non-military
reader may as nearly as possible comprehend the account,
care has been observed in regard to minor incidents,
and in giving, whenever possible, the exact language
used in conversation and orders.
The meed of praise is due to all alike who " fought
the good fight" to the end, and fame will ever cherish

the names of' those engaged in thfe conflict, but whosfe
heroism is not especially dwelt upon in these pages.
The design of this volume limits its account to the
part taken by Steedman's command, but without thought
bf ignoring the heroic courage of all who grappled with
the country's foes on that bloody field. To other hands
is left the task of making up the record of the many
others, living and dead, who are entitled to enrollment
on the scroll of fame, and of preparing an account,
truthful and complete, of this great tragic battle.
The Author

Toledo, Ohio, August 3^, 1876.
Dr. j. T. Woods:
Dear Sir, — I have read the manuscript of your little
volume entitled " Steedman and his Men at Chicka
mauga," and I beg leave to say to you, that so far as I
remember the occurrences of the engagement, it is a full
and truthful account of the part taken by my command
in that fierce and terrible battle, and is the only state
ment I have ever seen which does justice to the brave
men who saved the command of General George H.
Thomas from defeat and probable capture.
Very Respectfully Your Friend,
James B. Steedman.

CONTENTS.

PART FIRST— ON THE LEFT. Page.
Chattanooga as a rebel stronghold — Occupied by
eneral Bragg and his veteran army, . . . 9
Advance of General Rosecrans from the North — His
effort to gain Bragg's rear — Bragg compelled to
fall back . . . . . . . .11
National army scattered in passing through the moun
tains—Expected early arrival of Longstreet: — Bragg
turns on his pursuers — Concentrates at Lafayette 12
Rosecrans recalls his advanced left to west side of
Chickamauga creek — Maj. -Gen. Alex. McCook far
to the right — Bragg only waiting for reinforce
ments — His policy to attack and whip the Union
detachments in detail, . . . . . -13
Arrival of Steedman at Rossville with two brigades —
Col. Dan McCook ordered to report to him with
one brigade ........ 15
Steedman receives orders from Rosecrans to make a
reconnoissance toward Ringgold-Saw Longstreet's
men in the town — Received orders to hold Ring
gold village, ... .... 16
Headquarters at McAffee Church — Gen Whittaker
at Ringgold Bridge — Col. McCook sent to guard
Reed's Bridge, ....... 20

Page.
Rosecrans still awaiting arrival of Gen. McCook —
Bragg advancing, and moving down the Chicka
mauga, . . . . . . . . .21
Sept. 19th — Steedman learns that Bragg is crossing
the Chickamauga — Withdraws troops from Reed's
Bridge,  23
Col. Croxton opens the fight — Attack at Ringgold
Bridge — Col. Minty's reconnoissance to Rossville —
Steedman asks Rosecrans for permission to join
General Thomas — No reply — Arrival of General
McCook — Battle drifting down the stream, . . 26

PART SECOND— ON THE RIGHT.
Sept. 20th — All uncertainty at McAffee Church —
Sounds of battle — No permission to leave — Meet
ing in the church — " Burn the bridge, and march
to the battle-field,"  33
Union army suffering severely — Both flanks driven
back — Two corps shattered,' and their command
ers abandon the field — Gen. Thomas remained —
Steedman's march — Gen. Granger appears on the
field — Their interview, . . . . 37
Encounter rebel cavalry — Capture a hospital — Inter
view with rebel captain — Forrest's artillery open
on the column — Gen. Negley's fugitives — Pass
McDaniel's House, . . ... 42
Clouds oi dust — Approach of an officer from the
front — " Whose troops are these ?" — Important In
formation,  45

8
PART THIRD— ACTION. Page.
Steedman reports for duty — A hill on the right aban
doned — Ordered to " retake that hill," • ¦ 48
Moved at once — McCook's brigade detached to
guard a road — Interview with Gen. Granger, . 54
The desperate assault — The skirmish line swept
away — Gallantry of Capt. Urquehart— A retreat
ing regiment — A brave sergeant — Steedman's horse
killed,  57
A fierce charge — The crest carried — -Hand to hand
encounters — Miller's battery on the ridge — "Treble
shot 'em, boys " — A rebel charge — Col. McMahon's
2ist Ohio— Gen. Harker— Thoraas greets Steed
man — A second rebel charge — A glimpse at the
field— Night— Gen. Whittaker— Col. Mitchell, . 62

PART FOURTH— RETREAT.
Condition of the line — Condition of the rear —
Thomas— Gen. Rosecrans at Chattanooga— An
nounces his defeat and rout, . . . .71
Orders received to fall back— Steedman's plan— Cap
ture of 2ist Ohio— Capture of 22d Michigan-
Detail for rear guard— Arrival at Rossville, .' . 76
Disposition of troops— Thomas— Mitchell— Dry Val
ley Pass— Assault of the enemy— Retreat to Chat
tanooga—" Rally Round the Flag, Boys," . . 80

WAR MEMORIES.
Drury, ......
A Brave Boy, 
An Hour at Chickamauga,
A Private's Story,

87
lOI
106
121

li/L J^F S

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA

QESIGMCTIDM OF TRDOPS
2 INFANTRY CA/ALRY

//cp/OA/jSf ^ •>^H/PL£y:Toi,Eno. o.

EXPLANATORY.

The accompanying rttaps have been accu
rately copied from those officially prepared by
the War Department, and published for Gov
ernment use by authority of Edward Stanton,
Secretary of War. In regard to the position
of the troops under command of General
Steedman, some minor inaccuracies existed in
the original, which, in these copies, have been
corrected under his personal supervision, thus
making them more nearly accurate than any
heretofore published, a fact that greatly en
hances their value.
The first map embraces the entire field, from
our extreme right near Crawfish Springs, to
Rossville Pass on the left, showing the posi
tions as they occurred on the day previous to
and the day of the opening of battle on Sep
tember 19, 1863.
The varying changes of the contestants
cannot fail to interest even the general reader,
and that they may to some extent follow

them, both lines are marked in two posi
tions, selected for their especial bearing on
the progress of the fight. They are so dis
tinguished that by observing the key on each
map, they may be readily traced, from the
beginning to the end of the contest.
The United States forces engaged, com
prised what is known as the " Army of the
Cumberland," commanded by Major General
Rosecrans, while the rebels were led by Gen
eral Braxton Bragg. The organization of the
troops engaged in this sanguinary contest, is
made definite in the following tables :
FEDERAL.

COMMANDING ARMY OF THE CUMBERL iND— Maj. Gen. W. S. ROSECRANS.

Com
mands. 14th
A.C.

Commanding Corps.

COMMANDING DIVISIONS.

Major General '
Geo. H. Thomas.

Comd'g 1st Div.

Comd'g 2d Div.

Comd'g.Sd Div.

Comd'g 4th Div.

Brig. -Gen.
A. Baird.

Maj. -Gen.
J. S. Negley.

Brig.-Gen.
J. M. Brannan.

Maj.-Gen.
J. J. Reynolds.

aoTH
A.C. aisT
A.C.

Maj .-Gen.
A. McD. McCook.

Brig.-Gen.
J. C. Davis. ,

Brig.-Gen.
R. W. Johnson.

Maj.-Gen.
J^. H. Sheridan

Maj. -Gen.
T. J. Crittenden.

Brig.-Gen. '
T. J. Wood.

Maj.-Gen.
J. M. Palmer.

Brig.-Gen.
H. P.VanCleve.

Reserve Corps.
Cavalry Corps.

Brig.-Gen.
J. B. SteeSman.

Brig. -Gen.
R. Mitchell.
Colonel
E. M. McCook.
CONFEDEEATE.

COMMANDING CONFEDERATE ARMY— Gen. BRAXTON BRAGG.

Commands.

Commanding Corps.

Commanding Divisions.

Longstreet's Corps.

Lieut.-Gen.
J. Longstireet.

Maj.-Gen.
J. B. Hood.

Brig.-Gen, McLaws.

Brig.-Gen.
B, R, Johnson.

Polk's Corps.

Li«ut.-Gen. L. Polk.

Maj.-Gen.
B. F. Cheatham.

Maj.-Gen.
F. C. Hindman.

Hill's
Corps,

Lieut.-Gen.
D. H. Jlill.

Maj.-Gen.
P. R.Cleburne.

Maj.-Gen.
J. C. Brackenridge.

BuCknek's Corps

Maj.-Gen.
S. B. Buckner.

Maj.-Gen.
A, P. Stuart.

Brig.-Gen.
W. Preston.

Walker's Corps.

Maj.-Gen.
W. H. T. Walker.

Brig.-Gen.
J. R. Liddell.

Brig.-Gen. S. R. Gist.

Wheeler's
Cavalry Corps.
Maj.-Gen.
J,. Wheeler.
.Brig.-Gen.
J. A. Wharton.
Brig.-Gen.
W. Martin.
Forrest's
Cavalry Corps.
Brig.-Gen.
N. B. Forrest.
Brig.-Gen.
F. Armstrong.
Brig.-Gen.
J. Pegram.
It has been deemed advisable to omit the
hills and forests, for the purpose of making the
positions of troops more distinct, but it must
be remembered that the country was exceed
ingly rugged^ and that in consequence few
roads were practical for the movement of
an army, a fact of vital importance, as the
subsequent account will show.
The second of these maps embraces only
IV

that part of the field occupied by the contest
ants on the second day, Sept. 20, 1863. For
the sake of definiteness, it is of very much
larger scale, but its exact relation to the
preceding, and the position of the troops
as compared with the first day, may be readily
determined by noting on both, the Dry VaUey
^¦aA Lafayette Roads, and the farms of Mullis,
McDaniel and Snodgrass, as a guide.
The reader will observe that on this map
three positions are marked, the third repre
senting the extreme left of the Federal and
right of the Confederate line at the point to
which the former at one time advanced, after
which they were compelled to iall back to their
former position, the confederates correspond
ingly advancing.
The writer entertains the hope that even
those who were not there, may, by a little
attention, obtain satisfactory information in
regard to this act in our great national trag
edy.

iJiii ^irst

Chickamauga

ON THE LEFT.

x=K;Ei:jiAd:ii<rj^i?.iEs.

'hattanooga was invaluable as a strategic
point in the autumn of 1863. Being
the key to important positions, he who held
it securely must be complete master of the
situation. Occupied by General Bragg, his
veterans drew from its tributary valleys im
mense supplies of material support for the
Confederate cause.
His men held adjacent mountain and hill,
with stern purpose guarding every pass. The

IO STEEDMAN AND HIS
Tennessee river and the railroads that radiate
southward from this point into the Confeder
acy opened to him a vast extent of country,
enabling him also to maintain communication
with his rear. His only vulnerable point was
therefore south of his position, and guarded
chiefly by citizens unswervingly loyal to him.
A handful of Confederate soldiers at selected
localities along his northern front were each
proof against as many hosts. But the attain
ing of his rear by his enemy would wrest from
him the railroads to the south, and with them
his only means of securing supplies. There
could in that case remain no alternative but
to abandon the position, making an attempt
to move a vast army by circuitous routes
amid mountain defiles, and in their face to
try the desperate venture of forcing a march
through gorges rent in the mountain chain.
Of necessity the points selected for such a
purpose must be some distance from Chatta
nooga, where they could be only lightly
guarded if at all" occupied by rebel troops,
and consequently liable at any time to fall
into the hands of his foes.

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. I I
General Bragg well knew that a superior
force, resolutely led, could succeed in attaining
a position that would leave him no reliable
avenue of escape, and none for reinforcement
from his friends. With deep concern he must
have watched the National Army under Gen.
Rosecrans as it advanced from the North,
crossed the Tennessee and venturing the
dubious passes of the Lookout range, were
straining every nerve to attain the position so
fatal to his command. To prevent this he
knew his force to be insufficient, leaving no
alternative but to fall back immediately and
wait for the arrival of expected additional
troops from the army of Virginia before en
gaging in battle. With what regret he
abandoned Chattanooga, the attempt to retake
which must be made at the bloody expense of
a terrible battle, may easily be imagined. It
was begun, however, with commendable
promptness, the Confederate army passing
rapidly through Rossville and Ringgold, the
latter being the point at which Longstreet
was expected, and where he might at any
hour arrive.

12 STEEDMAN AND HIS
The National troops, divided far by the rug
ged passes through which they had marched,
endeavored to follow the fugitives and at
the same time brino- their columns together
in the rear of the retreating rebels, so as to keep
secure in their hands the captured stronghold.
But after having passed the dread defiles they
remained in detached columns, unable, from
the extremely broken character of the coun
try, to rapidly close up or aid each other in
case of emergency, and were thus in imminent
peril. This fact was fully comprehended by
the wary Bragg, who, as soon as he learned of
the rapid approach and early arrival of his
expected reinforcements, determined to take
advantage of it, and moving south to his right,
selecting the hamlet of Lafayette on the east
side of Pigeon Mountains as a favorable point
for concentration, faced about and commenced
to maneuver for attack on General Rosecrans
before the complete concentration of his
troops could be effected.
This prompted the latter officer to cause his
left, that in pursuit had been advanced beyond
Ringgold, to fall back in precipitate haste to the

MEM AT CHICKAMaDGA. t^
(vest sidfe of the Chickamauga, and to march
southward up the stream, the extreme right,
still far away under Maj.-Gen. Alex. McCook,
being urged to move rapidly to such point as
would enable him, when the two wings were
combined with his center, to hold the roads to
Chattanooga against the evident purpose of
the rebel leader to gain them.
General Bragg having concentrated at
Lafayette, a movement through the passes
of Pigeon Mountain range would bring the
rebel army to the east side of the Chicka
mauga, and face to face with his foe, with only
that narrow, tortuous and treacherous stream
intervening. In effecting this design he would
force to battle the Union army in detach
ments, crushing them in detail, they being far
from their base of supplies, with everywhere
ruCTo-ed and tortuous roads, and at their back
Lookout Mountain range and Mission Ridge,
in which accessible passes were few and
none at all practicable for the movement of
a large army save that known as Mc Far-
land's Gap, through which lay the Dry Valley
road, and that of Rossville, both of which are

14 StEEDMAN AND His
deep ragged gorges in rugged Mission Ridge.
The highway through McFarland's Gap was
from its position especially important to both
contestants ; that through Rossville Gap, al
though some distance away to the north,
might become equally so.
The road leading eastward from Chatta
nooga through the latter to Ringgold would
probably in the beginning be near the extreme
Federal left or northerly part of the field,
and might before its conclusion be the center
of the expected contest. The prospective im
portance of this highway was also heightened
by the fact that it crosses Chickamauga Creek
by means of Ringgold Bridge, a substantial
structure, being one of a few and probably
the best means of crossing that narrow but
deep and treacherous stream. Its occupancy
must be of vital importance, as a small force
could hold it against vastly superior numbers.
Whichever of the contestants made the attack
must encounter this difficulty.
An intervening stream that can be crossed
only by m-eans of unreliable fords and bridges
is a matter of great importance to an attacking

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. I5
army, when the opposite shore is held by vigi
lant troops, a fact of which both contestants
were fully aware, and of which both strove to
avail themselves. To seize and hold this point
of vantage Gen. Rosecrans decided to avail
himself of the services of a part of the Reserve
Corps, commanded by Major-Gen. Gordon
Granger, which was doing duty at various
points in Tennessee. The First Division of
this Corps, commanded by Brig.-Gen. James
B. Steedman, received orders from that officer
to move to the front on September 9th,
1863, and hastily concentrating two brigades,
on the 13th, arrived at Rossville Pass, having
been joined at Bridgeport by Major-General
Granger and staff. They had arrived at the
front and found the military sky far from
serene. One of the Brigades of Steedman's
Division having been detained on other duty,
General Granger, on the 14th, directed Colonel
Dan. McCook with his Brigade to report
to him, thus giving the Division in the
field its complement of men, that it might
have greater efficiency in any emergency.
Every hour seemed pregnant with important

i6 StEEDMAlSl- AND HIS
eventSj arhong which was to them the possible
arrival of reinforcerhents to General Bragg.
On Wednesday, the i6th, the commander
of the division was surprised by receiving an
ordi&r direct from General Rosecra-ns, to make
with one brigade a reconnoisance toward Ring
gold, the nearest railroad point in possession
of the enemy, and that at which the expected
troops would arrive, the evident purpo.se of
the ordered reconnoisance being to discover
facts on this and possibly other important
matters. Why the commander of the Reserve Corps
should have left two divisions in the rear and
without positive orders to do so, joined a single
one on its way to the front, is now perhaps un-
explainable, save upon the hypothesis that he
desired to be at the post of danger and glory;
but the reception of orders by the Division
Commander direct from the Commander of
the Army certainly presents the extraordinary
circumstance of the ignoring of a Corps Com
mander and his presence without a command,
he being compelled to be an idle looker-on at
the movements of his own troops. With this

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. IJ
the Division Commander had nothing what
ever to do. The order detached him from his
corps, and made him responsible only to the
source from which it came. Its execution
admitted of no delay, as the reconnoisance was
plainly a matter of importance.
Selecting from his brigades five regiments
of tried mettle, consisting of about twenty-five
hundred men, together with one battery of artil
lery, the General took personal command, and
proceeded at once. Owing to the great heat
and absence of water the march was toilsome
in the extreme, but pushed with such willing
vigor that near evening the head of the
column arrived at the little stream that
meanders about three-fourths of a mile to the
west of the village of Ringgold.
Both weariness and prudence dictated a halt
at this point while a reconnoitering party
passed over the stream to look down from
its bluffy bank on the demure town which
they were surprised to find filled with
hordes of freshly arrived rebel soldiers.
Occupied with many duties, they were in
blissful ignorance of the presence of the daring

l8 STEEDMAN AND HIS
observers until two pieces of artillery that
had been ordered to the bluff sent them a few
rounds of Yankee compliments. This pre
sumption could not be long continued in the
face of such a foe, and retreating under the
cover of the other guns that opened from the
opposite side of the stream, the return march
began in the dusk of the evening, with the
enemy closely pressing.
The determination shown in the advance
was then equaled by an earnestness to escape
those they had sought and found. Men
made the forced march cheerfully, and halted
with equal willingness to build camp fires as if
they had gone into camp in order to delay
the enemy, who would approach cautiously
until the cheat was discovered. By every
possible device time was gained for the
retreating column, it once being so closely
pressed that a company was detailed and
secreted by the way side, who discomfited and
delayed the advancing rebels by pouring into
them from out the solemn darkness a rattling
volley. By dint of hard marching and suc
cessful strategy, the little command reached

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 19
Pea Vine Creek about one o'clock in the
morning, and were within eleven miles of the
camp from which they had started.
Intense, exhaustion and proximity of rein
forcements being sufficient warrant, the com
mand went into bivouac in a position
selected with a view to its defense. Moving
at day-break, they passed over a sharp ridge
in the grey of the morning.
Being confident of the approach of the
enemy, the Commanding General, with Adjt.-
Gen. Moe, trusting to the fleetness of their
horses in case of emergency, halted on the
summit while the troops moved on. They
vvere soon rewarded by the appearance of the
head of the rebel column, that, moving rapidly
and with stately magnificence, filed to the
south toward Lafayette by the road along the
eastern bank of Peavine Creek. They little
knew they were passing in review before such
interested observers, who, from the facts noted,
estimated them at not less than twenty thou
sand muskets. No unnecessary time was lost
either in this halt or in overtaking the
troops, all arriving at camp about ii o'clock

20 STEEDMAN AND HIS
in the morning. The reconnoisance was thus
completed, and the important facts ascertained
at once communicated to the Commanding
General of the Department.
Scarce an hour had passed since his arrival
when Gen. Steedman was astonished tb
receive a second order direct from Gen. Rose
crans, and by a strange coincidence Gen.
Granger was again present. These were
written directions to move at once with his
command to Red House or Ringgold Bridge,
over which he had just passed on his return,
with emphasized instructions to " hold it at
all hazards," in order to cover this important
approach to Chattanooga, The unrested
command immediately retraced its steps. Gen.
Granger remaining witii his staff and escort
solitary and idle military residents of Ross
ville. Proceeding due east on the pike. Division
Headquarters were established at McAffee
Church, about three-fourths of a mile to
the west of Chickamauga and its Ringgold
Bridge. The stream being unfordable at that
or any adjacent point, and the bridge of about

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 21
eighty feet span, three regiments of infantry,
a battery of four guns, and a squadron of
Minty's cavalry, all under command of Brig.-
Gen. Walter Whittaker, was deemed sufficient
for its defense, with the remainder of the
division in easy supporting distance.
This position was a considerable distance
from the headquarters of Gen. Rosecrans, and
his appreciation of details might not be as
complete as to those who on the spot studied
all the points in the situation. The specific
order to hold Ringgold Bridge was to be
obeyed, but tbe military purpose contemplated
the necessity of offering every possible ob
struction to the rebels in crossing this stream,
and thus, by retarding their movements, at
least gain time for the more complete concen
tration of the Union army.
General Steedman accordingly assumed the
responsibility of obeying his orders in the
spirit of their philosophy rather than the
exact text. In lieu of holding all of his
reserves near his headquarters for the purpose
of support in case of 'an attack on Ringgold
Bridge, Gen. McCook, with bis brigade and a

22 STEEDMAN AND HIS
four-gun battery was directed to proceed to
Reed's Bridge, a substantial crossing about
three miles up the stream, with orders to hold
it as long as practicable, without bringing on
an engagement, and in case of attack to de
stroy it before retiring. Having thus made
the proper disposition for holding two im
portant bridges, the General rested, with Mit
chell's Brigade, two regiments of Whittaker's,
and a four-gun battery, at McAffee Church,
ready to respond to a summons for_assistance
from either of his outposts.
In the vicinity of Lee & Gordon's Mill,
by the Lafayette road about three miles to the
south, General Rosecrans was still compelled
to impatiently await the arrival of Maj.-Gen.
Alex. McCook's command —the corps that
had made its advance far to his right through
Alpine Pass, and with the chronic misfortune
of that officer had become "lost" in the defiles,
thus greatly delaying his arrival on the
scene of action. During this time Gen. Bragg
was busied in marching down the stream
northward for the treble purpose of closing
up on his reinforcements arriving from Ring-

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 23
gold, getting nearer to the desired roads and
passes through Mission Ridge, and gaining
access to the bridges and fords that were so
far from the main force of Rosecrans that
they must be insufficiently guarded.
With keen apprehension Steedman waited
all the forenoon of the i8th without a word
of instruction or tidings. Each passing hour
deepened his anxiety, when about three
o'clock in the afternoon the startling news
was picked up from some fugitive negroes
that the rebels had crossed the Chickamauga
at Fowler's Ford, about one mile above
Reed's Bridge, when he at once inferred that
they would march down the west side of the
creek, in the rear of Colonel Dan. McCook's
position, and cut him off effectually. It
was thus evident that this outpost was in
imminent peril, from which nothing but
prompt action could extricate it, its safety
being all the more important frorn the fact
that its exposure had been made on the
responsibility of the Division Commander
alone. Steedman fully appreciated the fact
that success secures plaudits, while, if failure

24 STEEDMAN AND HIS
follows, the act is deemed a criminal blunder
worthy only of disgrace.
In order to guard against such a misfortune
Col. Mitchell, with his brigade, was immedi
ately directed to move to a point within one-
half mile of McCook, and an order sent the
latter officer to at once burn the bridge and
fall back on Mitchell's new oosition.
This new disposition of his command was
not at all in accordance with the fancy of Mc
Cook, who seemed to have a desire to get
into the grooves of glory. No effort was made
to conceal his disappointment and disappro
bation, as he remarked that he should of
course obey, " but General Steedman does
not appreciate the situation."
The facts were that he, with a reserve, was
a few hundred yards in rear and on the west
side, with a detachment doing guard duty at
the bridge. The head of the rebel column
had appeared near them unobserved by Mc
Cook, and while he was venting his dis
appointment, his advance guard, comprehend
ing the danger, fell back, by a circuitous
march reaching the reserve. The urgency

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 25
was so great that the bridge could not be
fired without bringing on an engagement,
and thus fell into the hands of the enemy
a valuable facility for their future move
ments. Col. Minty, with a detachment of
cavalry, had occupied a position on the east
side of the stream, and made his escape by
riding around the head of a rebel column,
reporting at McAffee Church during the
afternoon. Strangely enough, in this situation, the main
lines of both friend and foe halted through
long weary hours. About midnight of the
18th, information reached Division Head
quarters, through an ambulance load of
Avounded soldiers, that " a very large rebel
detachment had been moving in the direction
of the position of Colonels McCook and Mit
chell, both during the afternoon and early
part of the night." An order was in con
sequence dispatched to Col. McCook to fall
back to McAffee Church with both brigades,
the messenger reaching him on the 19th, just
as the dawn revealed a brigade of rebel
infantry on the west side, emerging from the

26 STEEDMAN AND HIS
woods between and to the right of his posi
tion and the Chickamauga. McCook, survey
ing it with delight, had marked it as lost to
the Confederate cause just as the order to
retire reached him.
His chagrin at the receipt of his former
order to fall back, was immeasurably intensified
by a similar one with an enemy in his im
mediate front, apparently sent by chance to be
gathered in by his prowess. Nothing but
intense mortification could have prompted
him to remark to Col. J. T. Croxton, of
Brannon's Division, that had just taken posi
tion on his right, " that, he had supposed,
when he received his temporary assignment
to the command of General Steedman, he had
been placed under a fighting officer who
would afford him a chance to win distinction ;
but he had, instead, proved to be his evil
genius, and had just plucked from his shoulder
a star, for had it not been for the inoppor
tune receipt of this detested order he would
have moved on and whipped the indiscreet
rebel command, and thus deserved promo
tion,"

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 2']
Colonel Croxton, whose brigade formed
Brannon's left, being infected by the enthusi
asm of Colonel McCook's remarks, without
the knowledge of his commander, directed
Captain Moore, of the 14th Ohio, to advance
his skirmishers and find the enemy — at the
same time moving the brigade forward to his
support — as if in search of the regretted " lost
star," thus bringing on the first day's engage
ment of the historic battle.
It proved to be a rash, " starless " venture,
for, in a few moments, he was in the toils of
a powerful enemy, necessitating the sending
to his support Brannon's two remaining bri
gades, who held their ground, but were most
severely punished. McCook, stifling his morti
fication as best he could, was proceeding on
his way to McAffee Church, while Croxton
demonstrated that the point he had selected
was really an unpromising one to look for
glory with a single brigade, as the entire
division encountered more than four to one.
Gen. Rosecrans was much embarrassed by
the necessity of waiting for Maj.-Gen. McCook
and his corps to join him on his right. Not

28 STEEDMAN AND HIS
daring to face so powerful an enemy with a
divided command, he could not move down
the stream to defend the crossings, and thus
check the advance of the enemy, as the gap
between him and McCook would thus be
dangerously widened, an advantage they were
wisely using by pushing forward their right
toward every available bridge and ford below.
In maneuvering for position the enemy dis
played an extended front, exhibiting every
where the utmost caution, determination and
courage. Every possible point of advantage
was fiercely tested by them with varying re
sults. They greatly desired to secure every
possible facility for crossing the Chickamauga.
Accordingly, at about two o'clock in the after
noon, a large force of dismounted rebel
cavalry attacked General Whittaker, at Ring
gold Bridge, but were repulsed after a sharp
encounter in which the Federal loss was two
killed and twelve wounded. Thus hour by
hour intensified the preliminary mutterings of
the coming storm.
Occasional gusts of distant battle trembling
through the air do not soothe earnest patriots

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 29
and ambitious souls. To lie inactive at
McAffee Church with a division of infantry,
three four-gun batteries and two squadrons
of cavalry, with his only information brought
in the sound of distant cannon, suited neither
the commander nor the men. Accordingly,
at four in the afternoon, Colonel Minty was
ordered to make a reconnoisance to the south
east, in the direction of Ringgold. Advanc
ing promptly, this officer reached Graysville,
about seven miles distant, and, returning
about eight o'clock in the evening, reported
that he found nothing but a squad of cavalry
in that village, and that they fled on his
approach. These facts could only be inter
preted to mean that the enemy had concen
trated his forces with a view of making a
desperate attack on the main army, probably
the left and centre, commanded by General
Thomas, whose troops covered the Dry Valley
road. The Ringgold road being thus evident
ly abandoned in their plans, the guarding of
Ringgold bridge could be a matter of no
consequence, beside which the enemy had
possession of others sufficient for their pur-

30 STEEDMAN AND HIS
poses, and were already in force on the west
side, having given battle there during the
early part of the day.
With this view of the situation. General
Steedman, on the return of Colonel Minty,
addressed a note to General Rosecrans, ex
pressing the opinion that " the enemy would
attack General Thomas with great fury in the
morning, and requesting permission to join
him during the night with his division." To
insure the receipt of this communication,
copies were intrusted to two orderlies, whose
instructions were the same. Their efforts
were fruitless, as about four o'clock on the
morning of the 20th one of the orderlies re
turned with the information that he had been
unable to find General Rosecrans, and the
fate of the other is unknown, but it is pro
bable that in the effort to discharge his duty
he lost his life.
The midday arrival of General McCook,
on the right, had given General Rosecrans
the long and anxiously-waited-for facility for
movement, but not until after most important
advantages had been gained by his powerful

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 3 1
and wary foe. To counteract the effort of
Bragg to throw his right forward, and advanc
ing, gain possession of the roads and passes,
the Union • line was strengthened at that
point by moving troops from the right to the
left of the front thus exposed, closing any
gaps formed by every means possible to
give strength, or such deceptive appearance
as would serve the purpose. In this way and
for these imperative reasons the battle-field
was slowly shifted down the stream toward
Steedman and his men. The continued mov
ing of troops, from his right to his left, in the
face of the enemy, often under their fire, was
a task of difficulty and danger, for the omni
present rebels contested every inch, and en
deavored to foil every change that could, by
any possibility, bring their disadvantage. In
fact this had been the philosophy of the day's
maneuvering, with desperate encounters at
various points.
Saturday, Sept. 19, 1863, had been along
the right and centre a day of battle with
varying losses and gain. On the extreme
left it had been one of anxiety and uncer-

32

STEfiDMAN AND HIS
tainty. On the morrow the storm must burst
with untold fury, for which the preliminaries
having been fully perfected, the labor of the
day ended.

fa«t <f jes:0tti.

Iv/EO'VEIMIEIvrT.

C^^iGHT had brought no relief for the anxiety
1^^-^ of the preceding day. During the
long hours weary men marched to new posi
tions, only too glad, at any opportunity, to
snatch brief intervals of rest and sleep. The
watchful pickets abated nothing in the vin
dictive spite of their fierce salutes to each
other, for each knew that duty hugged close
around each and every one.
Information of transpiring events had
reached McAffee Church only through a
fcAv wounded men and the rumble of war, its
boom of guns, its gusts of rifle volleys,
drowned by distance and intervening forest-
clad hills into a mammoth whisper.
In solemn, earnest silence the combatant
lines fronted each other in the morning's
(3) ^

34 STEEDMAN AND HIS
dawn. It was Sunday, with little thought of
thankfulness or prayer, as every soul was fully
absorbed in fearful expectancy. The rising
sun dispelled the least shadow of doubt, for
with it occurred a fierce and determined
attack on the left and center of the Union
battle line, precisely as anticipated in the
note of General Steedman to the command
ing general.
In their endeavor each to overlap the
other, slowly the scene of action moved
northward still. Nearer and nearer had
they approached until the sound of the ter
rific and repeated onslaughts had become
painfully audible to the division that was
idling away its time and wasting its strength,
while their comrades battled against odds with
doubtful issue. The order to hold the bridge
at all hazards, received direct from the com
manding general, stood plainly in the way of
duty, and could be regarded only in the light
of inexorable- military law — " to ask no
questions, obey orders, and accept the con
sequences." To disobey was to trifle with
fate, to peril all, and failing to make good

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 35
the purpose in so doing would insure con
demnation and disgrace.
The issues at stake, both personal and
general, were therefore momentous, but after
mature thought and deliberation the bold
resolution was taken by General Steedman
to disobey his orders, abandon his position
and proceed to the field with his entire force.
It was near eleven o'clock on the morning
of Sunday, and the commanders of brigades,
together with many field officers, were con
vened, by order, in McAffee Church ; privates
joining to swell the numbers. Never had
a more solemn, earnest and enthusiastic
gathering occurred beneath that humble roof
To them their commander read his orders
from Rosecrans, after which he stated his
information and conjectures as to the con
dition of their comrades who were then
engaged with the enemy. Judging from the
changing situation from which the sounds of
battle arose, it seemed clear to his mind that
the Union forces were receiving severe pun
ishment, and the issue a matter of grave
apprehension. The duty to which they had

36 STEEDMAN AND HIS
been assigned might once have been of vital
importance, but at that hour there was no
enemy before them. His whole force was
concentrated at the point of attack, while
this division remained idle listeners, render
ing no real assistance in the hour of evident
need. The property they were guarding did
not belong to anyone present ; none of them
had any interest in adjacent real estate ; none
present paid any taxes in that locality ; beside
which the bridge would be as valueless for
passage by rebels if it were in ashes as if
guarded by Federal guns. He naively assured
his officers that they had not been called
together in " council of war," but simply that
he might explain his reasons and announce
to them his determination to "burn the bridge
and march at once, with his whole force, to
the field of battle." It was a bold and defiant
act, involving disobedience of orders. That
responsibility he assumed, together with its
consequences, and to the measure he "not only
expected their acquiescence, but their cordial
and earnest concurrence." To the announce
ment that they were immediately to move

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. T^"]
from safety into danger, it is but just to say
that his auditors signified their approval by
the most enthusiastic expressions, and with
evident delight obeyed the final instructions
to " proceed at once to their respective posts
of duty and prepare to move at a moment's
notice." Never was bold resolution more wisely
taken ; never was disobedience more tem
pered with wisdom, for a terrible drama was
speedily drawing to a close with certain
disaster to the Union forces. The gallant
rebels of the west vied with the eastern
veterans of Longstreet in soldierly bearing
and magnificent feats of arms. Every hill,
every valley, every thicket, every wood and
plain, was already dense with smoke, hot with
passion, and reeking with carnage.
Almost ceaselessly, for many hours, from
right to left, from left to right, had flowed and
rolled the fierce shout of defiance and the
strange thrilling wave of musketry. Shatter
ed, as if by the lightnings of Jupiter, crushed,
as if 'neath the blows of Vulcan, the corps
of Major-Generals McCook and Crittenden

38 STEEDMAN AND HIS
were in .fragments, their commanders aban
doning the dangerous field for the more
peaceful hamlets of Chattanooga. Many of
the subordinate officers in these commands,
and thousands of their brave men, too gallant
to follow their chiefs, remained, and, forming
into detachments, under whoever offered to
lead them, plunged again into the fight with
the indomitable Thomas, who, as his thinning
battalions closed around him, seemed de
termined to defy the fierce strength of all
the hosts of Mars. On both their flanks
the Union rear of the morning had become
the rear of the rebel line. Hosts of fugitives,
with artillery, limbers, caissons, wagons, am
bulances, hospitals, all the possible debris of
a shattered army and a battle lost, were from
everywhere pouring into every available path
or highv/ay, and, forming into ghastly pro
cessions, sought to go anywhere out of that
maelstrom of horrors.
What remained of the corps of General
Thomas, with the proud spirited remnants of
the two routed corps, continued to close up as
their numbers lessened ; keeping their faces

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 39
to the foe that, in crushing numbers, beat
against their front, and slowly, but surely,
were overlapping their flanks.
The shattered line, pressed from point to
point by pure force of powder and ball, at last
occupied a low range of broken hills. There
it stood, resembling in shape a huge horseshoe,
the extremities of which were not a thousand
yards apart — that on the south being some
what the longer of the two. The center looked
eastward into the grim, cheerful faces of the
enemy, who, with consummate boldness and
skill, availed themselves of every point that
could be won by art or valor.
Near the centre of this semicircle of human
slaughter, on an open spot, mid a clump of
old dead trees, at the south-east corner of
Snodgrass farm, stood, unmoved, unfaltering,
the ruling spirit of the storm —
" The noblest Roman of them all ! "
The belief that had led to the destruction
of Ringgold bridge was certainly well founded,
and not a moment too soon was Steedman's
column in motion, although it was but mid-

40 STEEDMAN AND HIS
day when it moved from camp into the open
grounds in a direct line toward the field. The
advance had just passed McAffee Church when
General Granger unexpectedly rode up with
his stafT, having just arrived from Rossville.
Saluting his division commander, he promptly
inquired, with a fearful decoration of adjec
tives, what he was doing. No reply could be
more courteous than " General Granger, I am
going over to the fight that General Thomas
is having with the rebels." No urbanity of
manner or speech could make the announce
ment less than astounding to Granger, who,
utterly amazed, replied with deep earnestness,
"General, you have been ordered in writing, by
General Rosecrans, to hold Ringgold bridge
' at all hazards,' and it is a fearful thing for an
officer to disobey an order of the command
ing general in the face of the enemy."
To this concise statement of a startling
fact, General Steedman, with his purpose un
alterably fixed, could only reply, " True, Gen.
Granger, but the situation is much changed
since the issuing of that order, and if the com
manding general were here, or knew the

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 41
facts, he would certainly change it and order
me to the field. Thomas is fighting against
large odds ; if he can hold his position with
out us he can win a victory with us. There
is no enemy in our front, we are doing no
good here, and are much needed on the field."
To this argument Granger could only
courteously reply, " I know you are right,"
with the instinct of a regular officer adding,
"but, being with you, I will be censured."
Amid the multiplicity of more important
matters such a thought had not occurred to
General Steedman, who promptly answered,
" No, General Granger, you shall not be cen
sured. This is my movement, and I take the
whole responsibility of it."
The schooled disciplinarian gracefully
yielding to the stern logic and as stern de
termination of the volunteer officer, politely
responded, " You are right, anyway. General,
carry out your purpose and I will sustain
you." He was, no doubt, proud of the prac
tical worth and pluck of his subordinate,
for, mounting his horse, he accompanied him
to the field.

42 STEEDMAN AND HIS
The line of march, at first, led directly into
magnificent fields of corn, for, " as the crow
flies," they moved to the sound of the cannon
in their front. In due time approaching the
Lafayette pike, near the mansion of Col.
Cloud, a force of about five hundred of
Forest's cavalry were encountered, who were
doing the double duty of holding this im
portant road and protecting a hospital that
had been captured, filled mainly with severely
wounded Federal soldiers. A company of
rebel infantry, with their arms stacked, were
laudably engaged in the work of carrying to
hospital the wounded, both blue and grey.
The advancing column was clearly on
ground that had been the Federal, but was
then the rebel rear. Without ceremony the
cg.valry were routed and the unsuspecting
company of infantry thoroughly surprised to
find themselves in Federal hands. The officer
in command, with the nonchalance of the
reliable soldier, replied to inquiry as to what
he was doing there, that he was " busy with
his men carrying the wounded to hospital."
To the further query as to whether he was

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 43
treating all alike, his reply distinguished
him as a gentleman, for, with a frank
ness that was both amusing and refresh
ing, he replied, with a smile, " We carry all
in, but, to tell the truth, give a little prefer
ence to our friends ! " Pleased with the
soldierly bearing of his captive, with whom
he had no time to parley nor men to spare to
guard him and his command as prisoners, the
general gave him assurance of his apprecia
tion of the service he was rendering, and,
directing him to continue, abruptly concluded
the interview with — " But these arms can be
of no service to you in your humanitariaii
labor." In a moment the guns were broken
into splinters, and their owners left for field
duty, armed only with stretchers.
As the advancing column emerged from a
little wood, and took the Lafayette road, they
were in full view of masses of rebel cavalry
that were posted on the adjacent high
grounds to the east, who lost not an instant
in opening on them with artillery, for the
purpose of delaying their advance.

44 STEEDMAN' AND HIS
Every soldier knows that it requires culti
vated coolness to march steadily, in open
view, with the whole side of a column exposed
to a raking artillery fire at short range ; but
these determined men paid not the least at
tention to the efforts of the enemy, as section
after section of artillery opened on them. Not
a man changed his march step, save as, here
and there, one wounded, fell.
At this point a portion of the disorganized
command of General Negley was observed
passing near the Cloud House, on their way
to the rear, our column marching between-
them and the enemy from which they were
escaping. It was presently discovered that the high
way route was not only unnecessarily perilous
from the incessant flank fire, but led directly
into the rear of the main line of the enemy.
Accordingly, the command filed to the right,
passed to the west of McDaniel's house, and
through his orchard to the open fields beyond.
The din of battle had become deafening, and
through its smoke dim outlines of the engaged
troops could be traced.

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 45
Thick clouds of dust had been raised by
the march along the Lafayette road. This
had not escaped the watchful eye of General
Thomas, to whom it was a startling omen
of good or ill, as was to the great Napoleon
at Waterloo, the advancing column that
might be either Grouchy or Blucher. With
no guide to direct, but accepting all the
chances of mistake, the column moved on,
without a moment's halt, across the Mullis
farm. In watching for any hint or sign that
might be of service, in leading safely to the
Federal line, a horseman was observed to
approach toward their front, halt, dismount,
and, climbing on a fence, make with his field-
glass a careful survey of this ominous moving
mass, that boded glorious hope or fell disaster.
Who or what he was could not be determin
ed, nor couldhe decide the important question
of his errand even with his field-glass, as the
clothing of the men, as well as the colors, were
so densely covered with dust as to obscure
the blue and give all the appearance of grey.
Taking the chances, the color-bearers were
ordered to wave the colors that the dust

46 STEEDMAN AND HIS
might be removed and unfold to the observer
the stripes and stars, whoever he might
be. Instantly recognizing friends he quickly
mounted his horse. His delight may well be
imagined as he spurred with utmost haste
across the intervening open ground.
Saluting the General, he tersely inquired,
" Whose troops are these .? " and received the
blunt, guarded reply, " These are my troops,
sir ! "
" General, may I inquire your name } " said
the officer.
" I am Brig.-General Steedman, com
manding the 1st Division of the Reserve
Corps ! "
" I beg your pardon, General, I am Col.
 , to-day serving on the staff" of General
Thomas, who directed me to come and ascer
tain what troops these are, as he seemed to
have no expectation of their approach."
" You will please return at once. Col. 
give my compliments to General Thomas, and
tell him that I am advancing with my division,
as rapidly as possible, to his support."

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 47
The terse but thoroughly dignified colloquy
was ended, and the officer, saluting, wheeled
his horse and quickly disappeared, the bearer
of most gratifying information.
Continuing its march, close by the rear of
the right of the rebel line, the division was
soon halted within the magic semicircle
around which the contest raged with inces
sant and increasing fury.
Alas ! how many rested there from weari
ness, that ere an hour had passed were halted
in death.

ON THE RIGHT.

A^GTIOIsr.

[hey had arrived on the stage to find the
tragedy near its close. General Steed
man, riding prompfly forward to report in
person, found General Thomas standing en
tirely alone under the clump of old dead trees,
coolly surveying the scene, and directing the
movements of the men that, as their ranks
grew thinner, closed up around
" The Rock of Chickamauga ! "
Calmly, as if the birds were singing amid
the gnarled branches above and the hill-side
thickets around, he returned the salutation of
Steedman, and extended his hand most cor
dially. In and around his eyes played a

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 49
Strange bewitching smile, the tell-tale of his
delight, while his mouth retained that mys
terious fixed stolidity that revealed the in
flexible determination of a soul that knew
not how to yield. His voice betrayed not a
trace of that concern that must have shaken
common hearts, as he said, in slow, measured
words, " General Steedman, I have always
been glad to see you, but never so glad as
now. How many muskets have you got?"
" I have 7,500 muskets, general."
" It is a good force," said he, musingly ;
" and needed very badly." Turning to survey
the kaleidoscope-field, he, in a few moments,
added, " General Steedman, the enemy are
occupying that wood," pointing to a position
toward the left of his battle line, " and have
been annoying us very much. You will form
your command on the left of General Wood's
men, and drive the enemy out of that
timber." Saluting adieu, and returning to his halted
troops, they were immediately formed in line
of battle, facing eastward and toward the
wood, as ordered, with skirmish line advanced.

50 STEEDMAN AND HIS
In such a moment men are amazingly
prompt, and all were quickly in readiness. It
was a beautiful array that steady line of
bayonets, while officers, with drawn swords,
moved hurriedly in doing their various duties.
At the instant he was about to send them
" Forward ! " Steedman chanced to notice
General Thomas, who beckoned his return to
him. Desperate need demands exquisite
caution. It was a moment of intensest in
terest. A single misstep could not be
regained, and might be fatal. The most vital'
issues depended on one master-mind. In the
shifting of such contending forces moments
may produce momentous changes. Such was
then the fact. They did not, however, escape
the eye of the master who, on the approach
of Steedman, said, with the utmost self-pos
session, " General, I have changed my mind
in regard to the disposition of your com
mand." On the extreme right of the crescent line,
which there faced directly south, the relative
quiet on the ridge told plainly that it had
changed masters, and was rapidly changing

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 5 I
occupants. The key to the Federal position
had .surely been abandoned, for the enemy
gaining that hill the whole right of the curve
was at their rnercy by an enfilading fire, the
centre, facing south, and the left, facing north,
exposed to a fire directly in their rear, a
situation in which no troops can possibly
remain. That vital position should have
been held at all hazards. The plainest duty
demanded that, to the last man, it should have
been defended. But it had been abandoned.
Its loss would have appalled one less brave
than Thomas, and driven to desperation one
less gentle and forgiving. With steady,
solemn finger, pointing toward the hill, he
continued, quietly, slowly, impressively, as if
he recognized the terrible blunder, but feared
to be unjust, " General Negley's command
occupied that ridge, a short time since, and
why he has abandoned it I do not know.
Possibly, he may have received an order from
General Rosecrans. The enemy are now
posting a battery there, and will shortly enfi
lade our position with the fire of its guns."
At the very instant the flash of the guns

52 STEEDMAH AND HIS
referred to, and the rattle of canister against
the dry tr^s under which the two officers
were conversing, gave ample and rather
earnest confirmation of the conjecture just
expressed. His voice being for an instant
drowned, the general concluded, with great
earnestness, " There ! there ! General Steed
man, you can see their exact position now • —
you must take that ridge ! "
More desperate task never glimmered
before mortal eyes, but, with a salute, and
reply, " I'll do it. General ! " Steedman rode to
his command, that was standing ready to
charge the wood they were then facing. They
must move to the hill on the right. Minutes
were invaluable, as the rebel General Hind-
man was, with all haste, crowding his division
forward to occupy the newly-acquired key to
the whole field. To hold this was to secure
Rebel victory ; to retake it, to snatch possible
Federal victory from certain defeat. No time
was spent in maneuvering. At the command,
" Right — face ; forward — march ! " the divi
sion was moving in column, the line of skirm
ishers marching in their position, in advance,

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 53
as formed for the first contemplated attack.
Passing close by the time-withered, shot-
, scarred trees, the unostentatious indication of
the headquarters occupied by the impertur
bable Thomas, the veterans filed to the right,
and, in a few moments, halted. Then facing to
the left they were in two lines of battle, with
skirmishers advanced, face to face with their
gallant and defiant foes. Like doomed gla
diators they stood in the arena; before them,
rising with steep ascent, the densely-peopled
crescent ridge. Eager eyes quickly observed
the forbidding thicket that covered two-thirds
of the ascent, above which the forest oaks
rose in majestic beauty, and beyond, a peering
belt of rocks that marked the edge of a bald
plateau, covered thick with men brave as
ever smiled at danger. Plainly every inch
of the slope before them was planted with
death, and, along the fragile line to their
left, their exhausted comrades had all day
struggled against overwhelming odds. They
heard shouts of defiance and the charging
volley answering defiant shout and volley ;
saw thousands of hungry tongues of flame cut

54 STEEDMAN AND HIS
through the lurid smoke, and knew that every
where red blood trickled from gaping wounds.
But this carnival of horrors seemed to make
no impress on the iron nerves of the observers.
They were in the presence and under the
very eye of the master at whose word they
had always sped as arrow from the bow
string. McCook, with his brigade, had been de
tached, by order of General Thomas, to guard
the Dry Valley road from a possible flank
movement of the enemy below the point
of Steedman's attack. There five thousand
men awaited the word, with the impetuous
Whittaker, on the left ; gallant Mitchell on
the right ; and Miller's Chicago Board of
Trade and the i8th Ohio batteries ready
at the auspicious moment to open their
guns. Each looking to his arms, none
seemed to think who would or would not
return, as hastily the officers dressed the
battle line. This was only the work of a few
moments, during which General Granger,
an interested spectator, saw his friend Steed
man on the verge of a desperate venture,

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 55
from which he could scarce hope for his
return. It seemed like the last, a firial parting, and
riding forward he touched the shoulder of his
friend and addressing him familiarly, as was his
wont when feeling especially regardful,"Sted —
my old boy," said he, "it's a going to be d  d
hot in there ! " to which it was possible to make
only the reply, " Yes, General Granger, it looks .
so." The former, in the most feeling manner,
continued, " Sted', — if anything should happen
in the attack you are about to make on the
enemy, have you got any requests to make of
me } " The vein of tenderness was surely run
ning rather deep for a man who saw an earth
quake ready to swallow him up, and to the
feeling and most fitting query the practical
soldier replied, without the least glimmer
of sentiment, " Yes, General Granger ; if I
fall in the fight, please see my body decently
buried and my name spelled correctly in the
newspapers." " Is that all.''" " Yes, General,
that is all," ended the colloquy. Not a little
disappointed with the peculiar reception of
his well-meant, kindly offices, Granger, spur-

56 STEEDMAN AND HIS
ring his horse impetuously, rode away, mut
tering, " He's d  d cool, any how," while the
stentorian voice of Steedman solved every
doubt and drowned every fancy in the stern
command — " Forward ! "
The enemy had made most thorough
arrangement for the defense of their position
during the little time that had been occupied
in preparation for the assault upon it, and
from their cover must have observed, with
mingled pleasure and pain, the beautiful
alignment, the steady tread, the lines of glit
tering bayonets, the mounted field-officers in
the full uniform of a holiday parade, as, seem
ing to court certain annihilation, they ad
vanced quickly to the foot of the ridge, and
the skirmishers pressed into the thicket, fol
lowed by the battle line. Then from the
dense masses on the slope and crest, as from
an overcharged cloud, burst the storm in
appalling fury.
The rebels saw the advantage they had
gained at such terrible cost and were deter
mined that no power should wrest it from
them. But the men who had received orders

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 57
to " take that ridge " did not, for an instant,
hesitate. The battle line crowded through
the dense undergrowth close at the heels of the
skirmishers. All eyes were fixed on the crest
above, when suddenly came a rattling volley
full in their very faces. It was from a con
cealed line about forty yards from the top,
that had unexpectedly risen as if out of the
very earth. In an instant every skirmisher
was killed or captured. Four or five wide
gaps showed where the advancing lines had
been swept entirely away. But the brave
men silently closed up the frightful chasms,
and, without orders, replied to the volley that
had done such havoc, never for an instant
breaking their advancing step as they loaded
and delivered their fire.
In that meagre front of seven hundred
yards twelve thousand muskets sent to and
fro their vindictive messengers, while artillery
hurled missiles everywhere. Splinters of
flame leaped through the smoke that hugged
the earth, which, with added passion and
blood, made that hillside a very pandemonium,
in all save regrets and groans. Officers of

58 . STEEDMAN AND HIS
the line shouted their commands and en
couragements ; generals, colonels, majors,
staff-ofiicers, and beardless orderlies, rode
rapidly on every errand of duty. Seized as
if with frenzy, both friend and foe struggled
with a determination almost superhuman.
The coolest self-possession strangely com
mingled with the fierce energy that holds life
valueless when weighed against dishonor. In
the wild tempest of passion one fierce purpose
enslaved all others. There was no thought of
gentle persuasion or remonstrance. An of
ficer, noticing a scared soldier going to the
rear, picked up a stone and knocked him down.
Captain Urquehart, commanding the 76th
Ohio, fell from his horse. The next in rank
instantly took his saddle, and quickly falling,
another was scarcely seated until he also tum
bles to the earth, then another, and another,
the unscathed horse bearing off the field, at
the battle's close, the sixth officer who had
dared assume the desperate venture of com
manding the gallant 76th.
In painful contrast. Colonel Jones, 40th
Ohio, was found by Major Moe snugly hid-

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 59
den behind a tree one hundred yards in rear
of his men, and, covering the recreant officer
with a cocked pistol, marched him to the
presence of General Steedman, who, after
hearing his explanation, ordered him to in
stantly leave the field. The gallant major
of the 40th, being notified of the cowardice
and disgrace of his colonel, expressed the
keenest regret, but, continuing to command,
in five minutes fell dead at his post of duty.
Prodigies of valor were everywhere per
formed as the line of naked breasts surged
against the incessant wave. Not an inch was
won without appropriate sacrifice, but staunch
and steady the thinning line moved on. Men
did their duty almost independently, while
officers gave every possible encouragement
by word and example. To this gallant conduct
there occurred but one other marked exception.
With every step advanced more vindictively
did the enemy resist. With every foot gained
the interest of the assailants deepened. Two-
thirds of the distance up the slope had been
wrested from the defenders, and clearly vic
tory was possible if every man did his duty

6o STEEDMAN AND HIS
as before. At this critical juncture a staff
officer observing that the 115th Illinois
had turned its back to the enemy, and was
moving to the rear, reported the fact to his
superior. A glance in the direction indi
cated, confirmed the startling announcement.
The regiment was actually marching down
the slope, their colonel riding in their rear.
Steedman dashed at once along the line
in their rear and firmly commanded, " 115th
Illinois — halt!" The men obeyed the com
mand of their General, who instantly sa^d,
" Colonel Moore, this is all a mistake. I
have given no orders to fall back. Move at
once up the slope to your position." Instead
of accepting this purposely offered opportu
nity to retrieve his error, the colonel replied,
piteously, " General, my regiment has suffered
terribly!" "I know it, Colonel Moore; all
the regiments have suffered severely, and I
am sorry for it, but we have neither time for
regrets nor discussion ; you will at once move
up to your position." Having no taste for
that " position," Moore replied that " he did
not believe that he could get his men to go

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 6 1
up there again." A more shameless slander
on true men coward lips never uttered, for
Steedman, taking the colors from the hands
of the color-bearer, replied, in stentorian tones,
"You can go off the field and disgrace your
selves, but as God reigns, you shall not disgrace
this flag," and wheeled his horse to retire.
The humiliation was too deep, and wrung
from a sergeant in the regiment an appeal,
" General, we will defend that flag if somebody
will command us !" The earnest words of the
spirited private were a thrilling commentary,
to which Steedman replied, " Brave boys, I'll
command you !" and raising the flag above his
head, intensified the assurance with, " I'll bear
your flag if you '11 defend it. 'Tention ! — 1 1 5th
Illinois! 'Bout — face! Forward — double-
quick — march !" The commands were obeyed,
and spurring his horse up the slope at a gallop,
the men followed closely, rending the air with
deafening shouts. The space they had aban
doned was already filled with rebels, who
poured out a stream of balls that tore the flag
into shreds as it waved above their com
mander's head, and did like havoc in their

62 STEEDMAN AND HIS
line. It was the work of but a few moments.
A few leaps of the horse and the noble ani
mal plunged forward to the earth in the grip
of death. The rider was thrown violently,
far over his head, and severely stunned. The
brave men paused for nothing but their flag,
which they bore to the front, where they ful
filled their heroic promise most faithfully.
Recovering somewhat from the shock pro
duced by the fall, the General bound up his
bleeding hands and mounted another horse.
Dreadful battle raged all along his meager
and weakened front. Hindman's Division of
veteran rebels, with every advantage, had
been forced to yield to the determined courage
of two brigades; and then, with one deafening
shout of challenge and one level volley — with
naked bayonet they charge and carry the crest
of the ridge.
The gallant rebels grandly faced the murder
ous steel ; bayonets were crossed in personal
encounter, and the blaze from the musket
burned the surface from which the red blood
trickled. Men seized the arms of their ad
versaries, and with all their strength struggled

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 63
for mastery. Being mingled together, fight
ing hand to hand without time to load, blow
after blow fell thick and fast, with musket
clubbed and every means available Many a
Jonnie, seized by his clothing, was forced to
march to the rear to swell the list of unwilling
prisoners. It was a fierce melee, in which the
soldier's honors may be fairly divided between
victor and vanquished. But the coveted crest
of the ridge was at last wrested from its brave
defenders, who fled over the open ground to
the wood beyond for cover.
It is long to tell, but forty-five minutes had
not elapsed since the opening volley, and on
that hill-side slope, in length not more than
seven hundred and a width of two hundred
yards, there had fallen, killed or wounded,
eleven hundred patriot men, with at least an
equal number of their foes. The lifting smoke
exhibited along that slope a view that would
have been appalling but for the necessity of
guarding well the advantage they had been
sacrificed to attain.
The shattered lines reformed in utmost
haste. Miller's Battery galloped to a position

64 STEEDMAN AND HIS
on the ridge, and poured a murderous fire into
the woods beyond. No precaution was un
wisely taken, for but little time elapsed before
a long deep line of grey moved from their cover.
With steady step and compact front they ad
vanced into the open ground. Shot and shell
swept them from flank to flank, from front to
rear ; musket balls rained in their faces and
men fell fast at every step. But the gaps thus
made closed up as do grooves cut in water.
The first line after delivering a volley fell to
the ground to load, while the next advanced
and delivered their fire, repeating which they
came on and on. Their precision was beauti
ful to see, their soldier's devotion actually sub^-
lime, for death messenger in level flood swept
that open ground. Stung by a pain that only
a soldier can feel, they scorned everything
that intervened between them and their lost
position, and in desperate frenzy rushed to
ward the shattered Federal line, that as hero
ically defied the reckless overpowering multi
tude. Not a man stood there in whose breast
did not beat a hero's heart, and every hand
did a hero's duty well.

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 65
Miller's Battery had not for an instant
ceased to send its shot through the advancing
horde, and splashed its canister along their
front. Only the dead and wounded halted.
The heavens were shut out, earth trembled
'neath the passionate footfalls, and the air
hissed like a seething cauldron.
Steedman rode up to Lieut. Closskey, in
command of the battery. The youthful officer
stood beside a limber chest, with his elbow
resting on one of the wheels and supporting
his chin as if in the most gratifying contem
plation of effective target practice. Being
directed to "double-shot" his pieces, he turned
his head without- raising his chin from his
hand, to reply, laconically, " 'Been doing it for
ten rounds, General." " Then treble-shot
them," replied the commander, for the need was
awful, and something must be done. The or
der was a little strong for the young artiller
ist, who simply replied, " Never heard of it
before," and turning to his men coolly com
manded, " Treble shot 'em, boys !" The guns
fairly screamed with the treble charges that
tore the rifling out of every piece in sending
(5)

66 STEEDMAN XND HIS
the sweeping death warrant into the advanc
ing line. But their front rank firing and
crouching to the ground, the next leaped over
them like a tiger lightly bounding forward on
his prey, in steady indifference to the missiles
that beat thick and fast about them. Their
path was strewn with their wounded and dead,
red blood trickled from gaping wounds into
the thirsty earth ; but suddenly arose the un
earthly yell, and then ceasing their fire, the
wave surged forward with bristling front of
naked steel. Gallantry, spurred by despera
tion, could do no more than they did there.
Each step they advanced was made through
perils multiplied, the very air they breathed
thickened with death. Mowed down in fright
ful swathes, their front became ragged as
they neared their goal, until at last, half
staggering and half reeling, within thirty
yards of the Federal muzzles, their colors for
an instant halted, and then in wild dismay the
shattered remnants of as brave a line as ever
jeered at desperate chances, turned in flight
to seek the shelter of the woods.
With fury indescribable the battle had raged

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 67
over the entire field. Immediately to the
left of this slope the 21st Ohio, under Lieut.-
Col. Arnold McMahon, with others, fought all
day among the wounded and dead they had
no time to remove or care for, that gallant
regiment losing there in killed and wounded
one hundred and forty-nine of its men, and
when at last surrounded and fighting hand to
hand, one hundred and fifty that death and
wounds had spared, took the chambers out of
their Colt's rifles, that they might be useless
to the enemy, and then in defiant humiliation
surrendered. General Harker — gallant Harker — did his
duty grandly on the immediate left of the
burnt cabins, while at the center rents were
continually torn in the clouds of grey with
shot, shell and canister.
Hindman's repulse afforded an interval of
security, during which Steedman galloped
over to General Thomas, that he might report
in person the situation of his command and
receive direct further expressions of his com
mander's wishes. The terrible work had been

68 STEEDMAN AND HIS
done under his own watchful eye, how well
none could better understand than he.
With knightly chivalry Thomas clasped the
bloody hand that was extended to him, and
said impressively, " Gen. Steedman, you have
saved my army. Your loss must be very
great." " Yes, General," replied Steedman, " my
command has suffered severely, but the posi
tion is ours."
" That saves us from ruin," replied he with
his usual calmness.
Then the pattering shots that precede a
charge gave warning, and Steedman galloped
back to the hill to find the battle on agfain.
The respite in front had been very brief, as
our gallant foes reformed in hot haste and
again came in solid masses to the charge,
firing and falling as before, thus sustaining
an unbroken stream of balls, until again the
terrific yell and the thicket front of bayonets
advanced, again to crumble away, falter, and
at last to turn and flee. Eight times they
trod that fire-swept and death-strewn ground
They stumbled over their fallen friends, their

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 69
feet slipped in fresh warm blood, as they
hurried bravely forward or rushed frantically
from the red edge of the destroying angel's
scythe. The hours gliding unnoticed by, evening at
last dropped her curtain softly down to en
shroud the mangled men with their own battle
smoke around them. But ere the scene be
shut from view look down the slope and mark
the path of Steedman's two brigades ; look
along this crest where they stand, grim with
dust, determined, undaunted, though exhaust
ed, starving, famishing, their arms in their
hands, and over them our tattered Stripes
and Stars ! ! It is historic ground over which
these citizen soldiers have borne the banner
of the free, 'mid scenes that neither pen or
pencil can portray, nothing picture faithfully,
but the yet warm bodies of twenty-nine hun
dred and eighty-five of their number, that
dead lie silently, or wounded are writhing
there. The thick winrow on the left marks well
where Brig.-General Walter Whittaker did his
duty. Receiving a severe shell-wound that

70 STEEDMAN AND HIS
forced him to retire from action, command of
his brigade devolved on Col. Champion, 96th
Illinois, who also suffered similar misfortune,
and, wrecked In health, will carry to his
grave honorable scars. There on the right
the spotted earth shows ample evidence of
how Colonel John G. Mitchell won the
golden opinions deserved by the brave. No
soldier will withhold the honors due a soldier
who has fairly won distinction, and the
world accords its homage to human valor as
if it were a quality half divine. All will agree
that the gallantry with which these officers led
their respective brigades could not be sur
passed. But to recount the merits and award the
meed of praise due to the deserving, is alike
impossible. The world will merge all indivi
duality in the great result, for officers and
privates alike cover themselves with glory,
who, for their country, in brief battle, as
these have done, leave more than half their
number on the field, —
The living crown with garlands,
Tears and laurels for the dead.

^Rtt ^0ttr.

iaETE,£lJk.T-

s two exhausted crippled gladiators would
glare at each other, so stood and glared
the shattered lines of blue and grey. As if
all the world had been spectators they had
striven for mastery in that lone arena.
A day of carnage had been ended by ex
haustion and the' gloom of darkness, through
which neither friend nor foe could clearly dis
cern the hope that cheers the warrior's soul.
Determined purpose had been met by resist
ance as determined, and the issue in even
balance seemed to stand suspended.
In the rear of a mere fragment of the loyal
army with which the battle had the previous
day begun were hundreds of stragglers, men
who in the conflict had became detached, the

72 STEEDMAN AND HIS
remnants of disorganized commands and those
who, in this as in every battle of every army,
seek by instinct a place of safety. The firm
control of discipline that ordinarily directs
the movement of all the appurtenances of
battle had for many hours been lost, and in
the rear consequent disorder and confusion
prevailed. All day had the rebels held Thomas and his
little command in the hollow of a hand that
they had vainly tried to close and in it crush
him. He had, however, no thought of being
crushed or even of attempting escape from the
toils. In the darkest hour of the afternoon,
when, standing beneath the dead trees, he
directed an aid, the only soldier near, to " Go
to Gen. Harker, present my compliments, and
direct him to push his line" — on the left of the
burning cabins — " with every man he can put
into it." The young officer started instantly
but after proceeding a few' steps, turned,
saluted, and inquired, " General, after com
municating your order to Gen. Ha.rker, ¦zv/iere
shall I report to you." With evident impa
tience at the implied suggestion that he might

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. "J ^
change either purpose or position, Thomas
stamped his foot sternly and answered, —
" Here, sir, here ! "
Like a lion he stood defiantly at bay. At
Waterloo Wellington musingly implored the
coming of " night or Blucher." Thomas com
muned only with an inflexible will, and steadily
held his front to that of his adversary. As
disasters multiplied so multiplied his determi
nation, and, partaking of the spirit of the
master, as the line grew thinner it grew
stronger and more unyielding.
Steedman had brought with him at noon
one and ahalf million rounds of ammunition,
which had been used by his own troops and
those who had exhausted their supply. His
men had gathered the cartridges from the
boxes of their own and the rebel dead and
wounded. On the hill to the left the 21st,
89th and 9th Ohio, and 22d Michigan had, in
the same manner, obtained their supply for
hours, the men often crawling forward to
where the rebels had fallen to obtain the pel
lets of ball and powder, treasures of priceless
value. And when all were exhausted, the 21st,

74 STEEDMAN AND HIS
as did also the 9th Ohio, charged again and
again against the advancing line of the enemy
without a shot to return for their volley,
with the naked bayonet alone repulsing them,
and even capturing rebel prisoners. Such
was the desperate straight, such had been the
battle all along the line. Without a moment's
respite, a mouthful of food or a drop of water,
since early morning, nightfall found these un
daunted men in their places, men whose names
should be held the synonym for all there is of
heroism. But their invincible leader was himself only
a subordinate to Major-General Rosecrans,
commander of the entire army, who, person
ally directing the movements on the field
during the beginning of the action, had, in
the exercise of unexplainable wisdom, retired
with his staff to Chattanooga, into which de
lectable spot, at the head of gay escorts, with
fluttering battle-flags, had ridden two of his
three corps commanders, unaccompanied by a
single organized squad of their respective
commands. Arriving there early in the after
noon of Sunday, the 20th, from that point

MEN AT CHICK AMAUG.V. 75
he sent to Secretary Stanton the following
telegram : 'Chattanooga, Tf.nn., Sept. 20, 1863,
4 o'clock, p. m.
Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War,
Washington, D. C.
My army has been whipped and routed.
(Signed,)
' W. S. Rosecrans, Major- General.
Strangely enough, from this safe point eight
miles distant, General Thomas received at
dark on the 20th a communication from his
chief Immediately sending for Steedman, he
communicated to him the fact that he had
received orders from General Rosecrans to
"fall back on Rossville," — adding, with a
pleasant touch of humor to Steedman, who
had not been during that or the previous day
over tenacious on the point — " you know we
must obey orders."
Difficult as it had been to follow his own
determination to stay, even with the aid of

76 STEEDMAN AND HIS
the gallant men who joined his command from
the disorganized corps, sternly as he had
determined to yield nothing until positively
wrested from him by force or prowess against
which he had no power to contend. General
Thomas now found that the question of retir
ing in obedience to the orders received, in
volved some embarrassments. The enemy
were everywhere close upon him, his line so
bent upon itself that its actual rear was not
more than a thousand yards in extent. He
had, however, the advantage of darkness, a
disappointed, thoroughly battered and ex
hausted foe. Inquiring of Steedman if he
could leave his present position in safety, he
received the prompt answer, "Yes, General,
I can," to which he tersely responded, " How ?"
The proposed method was at once explained
by pointing to the ridge immediately at the
rear of the one occupied by his command and
of about the same height — " On that ridge I
can place my artillery and retire my infantry
under the protection of the guns."
At once accepting the proposed method as
practicable, General Thomas added, " You

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. ']']
will move along by the ridge until you strike
the Dry Valley road ; move far enough so
that the rear of your command when you halt
will rest opposite the point of the ridge, and
there await orders. I will be on that point as
soon as I have withdrawn all the troops from
the line into the Dry Valley road. Meet me
there !"
At once proceeding to direct the move
ments, the whole line, with caution and und^r
cover of darkness, commenced to withdraw as
proposed, a maneuver that was effected with
surprising rapidity and practical success.
After placing his four-gun battery on the
ridge, Steedman formed his line of battle, and
'bout facing them they commenced to march
peaceably down the slope. But instantly
arose the rebel yell ; the line was, however,
quickly beneath the crest, and the guns open
ing from the ridge in the rear not only
apprized the enemy of immediate danger, but
gave strong confirmation to their idea that
fresh reinforcements had arrived, which was
probably one very important reason why
further active pursuit was not attempted.

78 STEEDMAN AND HIS
But the vigilant rebels were not at all idle.
Whenever it seemed practicable they ad
vanced and gathered a harvest of prisoners
as spoils. Thus«Col(5nel McMahon and the
remnant of the gallant 21st Ohio were added
to their trophies. Receiving no orders to
leave they remained, and by a singular mis
fortune, Colonel Lefever and his 22d Michi
gan, who' were on the extreme left of General
Whittaker's Brigade, and next to the position
of the 2 1st Ohio, were also compelled to sur
render. The colonel was marching down the
slope to the rear, as directed, when General
Granger, who knew nothing of the proposed
abandonment of the field, chanced to notice
him and inquired what he was doing, to which
Lefever replied that he was obeying the
orders of General Steedman to retire, and
that he understood that the whole line was
moving to the rear. Struck with astonish
ment, and with a desire to correct what
seemed to him to be an error. Granger assured
him that it must certainly be a mistake, and
directed him to go back to his position, as the
field must be held, adding that he would go

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 79
to General Steedman and make satisfactory
explanation. It was an unintentional but
fatal error, as the instant that Lefever 'bout
faced the 22d Michigan, they were on their
march to the Andersonville death pen and
Libby Prison !
Obeying his orders Steedman halted his
command with its rear at the terminal point
of the ridge indicated when he reported to
Thomas, whom he found waiting there seated
on a log. The hastily withdrawn army was
already in advance moving down the Dry
Valley road, and Steedman received his final
instructions to protect the rear of the whole
command with the one of his regiments in best
condition to fight. To this duty the 79th
Illinois was assigned, moving in readiness at
any moment to select position and with the
support of the four-gun battery accept battle
if the advancing enemy offered it.
It was a cheerless night march, for adding
to the exhaustion and sufferings of each was
the recollection of those left behind, alas ! how
many never to clasp hands with them again.
But unhumiliated though crushed, they march-

8o STEEDMAN AND HIS
ed westward through the Dry Valley gap in
Mission Ridge, and filing to the north along its
base about midnight arrived at Rossville, and
ascending the ridge again turned their faces
toward the enemy.
Orders as well as necessity requiring a halt
at this point, further dispositions for security
were immediately arranged.
The main body of troops being posted on
the crest of the ridge were in readiness for an
attack in their front, a position from which
they could at any moment retire, they being
now in extended line a^d directly between
the enemy and Chattanooga. The additional
points of danger were the Dry Valley Pass
on the right and Rossville Pass on the left,
through which lies the road from Chattanooga
to Ringgold. To gain possession of either
or both of them would afford incalculable
advantage to the pursuers, as they might
then by desperate effort thrust themselves
between the little army and their base,
where a multitude of refugees had gathered
with Major-Generals Rosecrans, Crittenden
and McCook.

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 61
Steedman being in the rear arrived some
time after Thomas and found the latter officer
— who had been on duty all day without a
morsel of food or aught to quench his thirst —
lying on the ground with his feet toward a
camp-fire, his military coat buttoned up close
to his throat, his right hand supporting his
head, with his elbow resting on the ground.
Stolid and imperturbable, he looked like a
worried lion waiting for his prey. Without
moving, he asked Steedman if he could
"picket the Dalton Road." On receiving an
affirmative answer, and acquiescing in the
proposition to place two pieces of artillery on
the ridge near the pass, he added, " you will
attend to it," and relapsed into his musings.
General Mitchell was directed to throw for
ward a regiment with a picket post and pickets
in advance, at the point where the road to
Cleveland and to Lafayette crosses the Ring
gold pike.
The Dry Valley Pass was held by cavalry,
and the little army dropped unconsciously
into a temporary repose such as only utter
exhaustion can bring.
(6)

82 STEEDMAN AND HIS
The cavalry advance of the enemy ap
proached very early to find that they were
being waited for, soon followed by the in
fantry, who were received in the same spirit
of defiance that they had previously e.x-
perienced. The skirmishing was severe
and artillery duels continued throughout the
entire day.
The night of Monday, the 21st, proved to
be dark, to which was added a dense misty
fog that greatly aided in the necessary aban
donment of the position. The difficulty of
effecting the movement was greatly enhanced
by the vigilance of their watchers, now spurred
by chagrin at the escape of their prey on the
previous night. This necessitated the utmost
attention. In the most cautious manner officers
passed along the line and communicated the
order to fall back to each man singly in a whis
per, and in such silence as danger and darkness
begets, they successfully withdrew, leaving the
Johnnies to discover at their leisure their
vacant places.
A dreary march was that four miles to Chat
tanooga, but all recognized a blessing in the

MEN AT CHICKAMAUGA. 83
darkness and the friendly fog that — a real
cloud by night in which they walked — enabled
them to escape multiplied perils if not disaster.
At seven o'clock on the morning of the 22d
the lifting fog-cloud showed a battle line of
blue around Chattanooga, with a frail but
valuable line of works before them, and quickly
thereafter, on the wooded slopes of Mission
Ridge, an accumulating horde of grey, that
rapidly deployed there.
From that position, enviable for its beauty
as for its military strength, they looked down
upon the colors that had been shot-riddled
in the previous encounters, and heard " Hail
Columbia," " The Star Spangled Banner," and
" Rally Round the Flag, Boys," mingled with
the boom of guns that delivered shotted salutes
in defiance of their pursuers.
The two days' work on Chickamauga's field
was ended. To meet again and make historic
this new selected battle-ground, they had
parted there— the blue, with a battle lost with
out defeat, the grey, having won a battle
without victory.

WAR MEMORIES.

TO THE READER.

Although the following sketches have no proper con
nection with " Steedman and his Men," they are pre
sented here without apology. They have been selected
from a series of War Memories written by the same
author during the past few years, for the purpose of
preserving from oblivion circumstances that are without
the pale of the historian's labor, and yet are a part of
real history.
Prepared for the perusal of the general reader, as
much explanation has been used as would be
necessary to. make the iticidents understood, the style
of presentation being modeled as nearly as possible on
that which seems most satisfactory to non-military
listeners, when, for their benefit, an old campaigner
"fights his battles o'er." Of necessity there occurs
some repetition of language and illustration, but each
sketch is as independent of the others as their character
is diversified.
The writer hopes their style may not be unsatisfactory
nor the facts uninteresting to the reader.

86

WAR MEMORIES.

No. 1.

DRURY.

Two giants were summoning their power
for a fierce collision. The Federal army,
under Gen. Rosecrans, was in a mysterious
way straggling together on the Chickamauga,
and the rebel forces, under the veteran Gen.
Bragg, were, with all possible dispatch, form
ing a junction with reinforcements from the
east under the grim warrior, Longstreet.
" There was hurrying to and fro," amid the
rough hills and woodlands that line the his
toric stream.
There is always much mystery in either
army as to exactly where and how the opposite 87

88 WAR MEMORIES.
forces are being disposed for an approaching
contest, and each strives to fathom the pur
pose of the other. Each, therefore, by various
ways, watches so far as possible the move
ments of the other, and at a proper time it is
not uncommon for detachments of troops to
be sent out to " feel for the enemy." These
efforts at discovery often lead to miniature
battles — a sort of prelude to a grand chorus,
rendered in the crash of sabre, musket and
cannon, the score written in corpse and blood.
Two days before this battle, the 2d Division
of the 4th army corps, commanded by Brig.-
Gen. Van Cleve, made such a reconnoisance.
We were to " look " for the enemy, and we
found him ; we were to " feel " for the eneiny,
and we felt him. It was a bright and plea
sant afternoon, and fording the narrow, shal
low stream immediately below Lee and
Gordon's mill, we were on forbidden ground.
The enemy in force lay back among the hills
— a tiger in his lair — offering no resistance to
our passage, but filing to the right we soon
found that, being strangers, we might be taken
in. My regiment, under command of Gol.

WAR MEMORIES. 89
P. T. Swayne, was in reserve, marching at the
rear, and at various points before us the move
ment of troops for battle on a small scale,
could be taken in at a glance.
The infantry in staunch line, like a blue
wave tipped with a glistening forest of mus
kets form on a range of low hills that stretch
across the front ; cavalry in long lines, with
quick pace file to the right and left and deploy
to support and protect the flanks, while bat
teries of artillery hurry at the trot or gallop
to their various positions on the field. It is
but little time until all are in place, and the
rifle-shots of the skirmishers become thicker,
artillery opens with smoke and flash and thun
der. The line of battle warily advances, feel
ing its way over precarious ground. Thus
the glittering picture, the glorious panorama,
merges into a frightful drama of pa.ssion, blood
and death.
Being held in reserve we marched along the
wood directly in rear of the center of our
command, and close up to the base of the
range of small hills on top of which our line
was formed. At the base of the center of the

90 WAR MEMORIES.
elevated ground, on the right of our road, was
an open meadow, on the left a corn-field. The
regiment was halted in column, faced to the
right without doubling and marched just over
the line of fence, halted, left-faced into column
so that they were parallel with the road, and
over the fence in the meadow. Here we
waited developments.
A. little before reaching the meadow I had
seen a book on the ground, and reading matter
being both scarce and desirable, and thinking
that this might be something racy, I dis
mounted and picked it up. Imagine my dis
gust when I found it was an arithmetic. I
was rendered enthusiastic by the scene, and
riding with the -field officers at the head of
the regiment, instead of in my place directly
in its rear, forgot the stupid book I was
carrying in my hand. Colonel Swayne see
ing it, and fancying that it might be a trea
sure, asked me for it just as he received
directions to halt and await orders. He
moved the command into the meadow, as
I have stated, and immediately commenced
perusing its pages, He turned over a few

WAR MEMORIES'. 9 1
leaves, and, asking for a pencil, commenced
figuring on a fly leaf At this moment a rebel
battery opened, and toward us came hissing
a cannon shot. He coolly sang out to the
men, " Lie down." Oh ! it was beautiful to
witness the alacrity with which that command
was obeyed. The regiment in an instant was
fairly plastered to the earth. On came the
shot, hissing, shrieking. If human ear ever
heard a fearful truth, the shot was coming
directly toward us. How frightful to untried
nerves is the song of the fiendish messenger !
How like a flash of lightning grave thoughts
go quivering through the brain ! Why are
the men ordered to " lie down " for protec
tion, while here are six ofiicers on horse
back at the head of the column sitting
like statues ! Oh ! for a tree, a stone, a
hole in the ground, any place where a fright
ened soul might find rest. The song of the
coming shot has intensified into a shriek, and
in an instant crashes into the fence, not ten
feet from the column ; another follows instant
ly, and strikes the ground a few rods in front;
another goes howling and hissing over us; a

92 WAR MEMORIES.
shell dashes into the corn-field and explodes, '
unseen cavalrymen scatter in all directions'for
an instant and then return. Quick, fast, howl,
hiss, shriek, they drop to the right — left — front
— rear — I look up and Swayne sits on his grey
horse calmly figuring away on that blank leaf.
I had no taste for mathematics. Suddenly he
commands " Attention !" The men spring to
their feet. " Boys, there is a yellow-jacket nest
here," said he. " Right face. Forward —
march. Halt. Left face." And they are
again in column as before. They have moved
about ten feet, but before the command to lie
down can be given, a solid shot strikes exactly
where they had laid, plows the ground for a
rod — ricochets, strikes again, and plowing,
bounding, it, flies along the whole length of
the regiment, and in its frenzy goes on and on
over the meadow. All saw how narrow the
escape, and the men burst into loud laughter
at what they supposed a joke on the part of
the Colonel, but he assured them that the
yellow-jackets had disturbed his horse.
The command " Lie down" was not repeated
— it was unnecessary. There are things that

WAR MEMORIES. 93
men do without orders, and one is, to lie down
promptly when cannon shots are enquiring
after them. That yellow-jackets' nest no
doubt saved the lives of twenty men, for the
shot went directly down the column where
they had lain an instant before.- " There," says
Swayne, " is the length of the fish." " What
fish.?" inquires Lieut.-Col. Cummings. "Why,
the one given here — ' whose head is four
inches long, the tail twice as long as the head,
added to two-fifths of the length of the body,
and the body is as long as the head and tail
both.' The length Is forty inches."
He had actually, amid all this — to me such
frightful peril — bothered his brain to figure
out that problem. He had been under fire
before; I hadn't. Battle was his business; it
wasn't mine. In fact I thought it a very
poor place for a surgeon— a non-combatant.
It looked to me as though I might not be
preserved for future usefulness. I very much
desired to go away. I looked ardently to the
rear, where I ought to be, but I could not go
without being seen by the command, and hear
ing those words, more frightful than cannon

94 WAR MEMORIES.
shot — " There goes a coward." I clasped my
bridle reins convulsively, and didn't stir. I
was positively afraid, in the face of this shower
of cannon shot, to incur the contempt merited
by a coward. I thought of my mother, and
said to myself, — I had rather die than that
she should be ashamed of me. That is
about the style of my courage when first un
der fire. I fancy I was not the only one of
those mounted men to whom some other
spot would have been more inviting. But
Swayne and Cummings coolly discussed the
fish question.
The circumstance most trying to me was,
that I had nothing to do — could do nothing
— could go no where. Imagine yourself thus
situated. Not a thing to divert the attention
and relieve the mind from the frightful study
of the chances as^you hear first the discharge
of the ofun and then in a few moments the
shot comes howling, hissing, shrieking towards
you. " Is it for you .?" What a fearful ques
tion as your ear takes in every shade of its
hideous noise. It goes over you and, is harm
less. How you gloat over the fact that there

WAR MEMORIES. 95
is one less chance of danger — when boom
goes the gun, and hiss comes another mes
senger, and you are again thrilled by the same
fearful query.
But the fire thickens in front — murky battle-
smoke obscures the cloud of dust arising along
the road which has guided their aim, and our
shower of shot and shell lessens. That dark
cloud and the drama being enacted there is
strangely inviting, which fact, together with
the agony of nothing to do, led me to ask Col.
Swayne for permission to go to the front. M)-
request was granted and I was not slow in gal
loping up the road, along which an occasional
shot still plowed its way. On the top of the
hill was a house, and in its large front yard,
under a cluster of trees, was Division Head
quarters. Immediately before us the line of
battle, and just beyond this the heavy line of
skirmishers were feeling for the enemy, and
were felt for very ardently in return. I noticed
that all the trees about headquarters were
occupied on the side opposite the direction of
the shots, which were splashing around indis
criminately. While I was regretting the

96 WAR MEMORIES.
absence of another tree, came the sad news,
" Capt. Drury 's shot," and directly from around
the bend in a crooked lane came men with a
stretcher, and poor Drury, in full uniform, pale
— bloody — ghastly — shot through the abdo
men. He was Captain of the First Wisconsin
Battery and Artillery Chief of the Division.
He was a rolicking, reckless, gallant officer —
loved by everybody but the enemy, who heard
altogether too often from his guns at short
range. Mounted on a splendid horse, in the
full uniform of a captain of artillery, he had
ridden, against admonition of danger, to a
point in advance of the skirmish line, in search
of a good spot for his guns, when a sharp
shooter, with murderous aim, put an end to
his inquiries and interest in that particular
matter of business.
The Division Surgeon hastily examined his
wound, pronounced it very dangerous, ordered
an ambulance to take him to the rear, and
directed me to go with him, dress his wounds
and make him as comfortable as I could in
any house I could find. I was not reluctant
to obey the order.

WAR MEMORIES. 97
Drury sat supported in the ambulance as it
was driven as carefully as possible over the
stony roads. He suffered excruciating pain,
breathed with great difficulty, but said not
a word. He was a short, fat man, with jolly
round face and long curling black hair. But
his face now showed his agony, and I shall
never forget his looks as he sat there naked
to the waist, that he might feel cooler and
breathe freer. We went some distance before
we saw a house, but at last we found, nestled
in the woods, a rough log building, with a
porch in front, on one end of which was a
rude bed-room. Things were topsy-turvy all
over that realm of domestic bliss. I took pos
session of the bed-room for Drury, and pro
ceeded to investigate his wound. A musket
ball had entered his right side so that I be
lieved it had passed through the liver, and
ranging upward had perforated the diaphragm
and lungs. I cut the ball out from between
two ribs on the back, where it was wedged
fast and firm The cutting and tugging at
the bullet to secure its removal did not cause
the iron-hearted Drury to wince. He coolly
(7)

98 WAR MEMORIES.
asked me, " How dangerous is this business ?"
I admired Drury — I loved him. Think
then of this cruel question — the question that
I had been silently dreading, and which I now
evaded by replying — " Wait until I get you
dressed up in good shape, and we shall see."
In due time all was completed, and Drury sat
propped up in bed. I had not the heart to
tell him my opinion. With an ounce ball
tearing through those important organs, who
could entertain a hope. With my experience,
I had none. To face that question made
me as much of a coward as the shot and shell
had an hour before, and I must confess that I
had determined in some manner to get away
without answering it. But my effort was fruit
less. The eagle eye of a hero was on me. I
do not doubt that he divined my purpose, and
at the proper moment bluntly asked: " Doctor,
tell me now, will I live or die ?" I was face
to face with the responsibility, and guided by
my reluctance and a tenderness begotten of
my regard for him as a man and soldier, I be
gan by saying, " Captain, you are a brave
man" — at which point I was interrupted by a

WAR MEMORIES. 99
look that paralyzed my tongue. His face
scowled, his eyes flashed in evident scorn at
my circumlocution, and the mere fact that I
had seemed to raise in my mind a question
as to his courage and readiness to bear with
indifference my answer, I began again, and
said frankly, — '' You have at least ten chances
to die where you have one to live." Drury
looked for a moment calmly downward, his
face assuming the expression of cool determi
nation. Suddenly he raised his eyes, and
looking me full in the face, replied, " By G — ,
I'll take the odd chance and live!"
My orders had been obeyed and I had no
time to linger. I bade him good-bye, with a
sincere but hidden sorrow, though not a little
amused at the adjustment he proposed to
make with death. Having reported my pro
ceedings to S. D. Turney, Surgeon of Division,
I returned to my regiment.
Having felt for and found the enemy, the
command withdrew across the river.and at once
were begun the final preparations for a con
flict that gave to history the desperate struggle
on the Chickamauga. Each hour brought

lOO WAR MEMORIES.
duties and circumstances that filled it to over
flowing, and amid the terrible scenes that fol
lowed I had forgotten Drury, whom I sup
posed already dead. One day in Chattanooga,
probably two weeks after this occurrence, an
orderly found me and gave me a message-
which he said was from an officer on the other
side of the river. It read :
"Woods: I am doing bully. Send me some mor
phine. "Drury."
He had been sent for on the night of the
day he was wounded, carried in an ambulance
over rough roads twelve miles to Chattanooga,
thence across the river, where, to my utter
amazement, this note assured me he was
standing firmly by his proposition to take
"the odd chance and live." And live he did,
for a few months afterwards I met in the field,
" doing the States some service," the same
Captain Drury, as jolly as ever, apparently
not the least concerned because of his having
failed to make my professional opinion good
by promptly dying. Long may he wave, a
living example of what maybe done by Pluck
and Providence.

WAR MEMORIES.

NO. 2.

A BRAVE BOY.

In one of the engagements on the right of
Atlanta, a large number of men of the brig
ade to which I belonged were wounded. I
well remember the place by the fact that a
saw-mill stood Immediately at the rear of our
battle line, and that In approaching Brigade
Headquarters the rebel shells flew close over
our heads and fell into the mill-pond Immedi
ately to the left and'uncomfortably near. The
wounded received their primary dressing in
the yard of this saw-mill in a position some
what exposed, and from which some of the
surgeons ingloriously ran away and hid, being
invisible until after the battle had ceased and

I02 WAR MEMORIES.
all danger passed away. I see the paltroons
yet, as they came sneaking from their hiding
places, ashamed, as they should be, of them
selves. Manhood is never more sunken than
when covered with the consciousness of cow
ardice, never sinks lower than when duty is
abandoned because of fear. I refer to this in
cident with regret, as it was certainly a rare
one, and to call attention to the necessity of
infusing into the non-combatant branch of the
volunteer service the discipline and the mili
tary pride of the soldier, the officer and the
ofentleman. I do not mention their names,
because their mothers may yet be living.
In the action referred to a young man re
ceived an injury, for which I was compelled to
amputate his leg immediately below the knee.
The operation was made at the field hospital,
which had been so located that when the ad
vance of the battle was ended it was some
distance in the rear.
He very urgently requested me to come on
the next day and dress the stump, making
the appeal with such earnest pathos that I as
sured him that if the brigade of which I had

WAR MEMORIES. I03
charge as chief medical officer did not move
so as to make it Impossible, I would do so.
He was rather young, fine looking, with a
round pale face, and such intelligent expres
sion, that I could not help thinking that there
were those who were proud of him, and who,
alas, did not know that In the dreary forest he
lajr mutilated, with no opportunity for tender
care, and with many chances to lie beneath a
yellow mound in the wilds of Georgia.
Returning to the field I joined Assistant-
Surgeon Carr, who alone faced the danger
from which the other surgeons had fled.
There was much work for us two, and the
night spent close under the guns of the enemy,
with continuous picket firing' close at hand
and an occasional shell howling over us, was
both long and dreary enough. But something
in that wounded soldier's manner so Interested
me that I thought frequently of him, and on
the following morning rode away from all
other duties to attend to his request. I had in
haste left him on the operating table, and found
him lying on a bed made of cedar boughs
spread on the ground, one of a long row of

I04 WAR MEMORIES.
sick and wounded, covered only by the tent fly,
a number of which were so joined together as
to form a long double shed in the field. He
expressed great satisfaction at seeing me,
pressing my hand kindly and thanking me for
my attention. While the attendants were
bringing the necessary appurtenances, I con
versed with him and was surprised that not a
murmur escaped his lips, although he was then
suffering and had spent the long night in tor
ture. Kneeling by his side on the ground, I
slowly removed the blood-soaked bandages.
For some reason the wound was exceedingly
sensitive, and despite all the care I could
exercise the dressing was a painful process.
The muscles of his placid face would every
instant tell the story of his suffering, and even
his grand courage was not sufficient to sup
press all manifestations of pain, but every few
minutes the sigh would escape from his un
willing lips. All this was noticed by a half-
sick recruit who lay by his side, but who had
not become inured to the hardships and perils
of actual campaigning. He arose, time after
time, and looked at the mutilated limb, studied

WAR MEMORIES. I05
eagerly the bloody bandage, the adhesive
straps and the stitches that held the flaps to
gether, and seemed to absorb the pain the
poor boy suffered until his own cheeks became
v/hite, and then half fainting lay down until
another moan would arouse him to study the
sickening sight again. He seemed absolutely
terrified, as if he felt sure that the next ampu
tated leg must be his. No one paid any par
ticular attention to him, but at last he could
no longer refrain, and made some remark in a
tremulous tone about the terrible look of the
wound, and how awful It was to lose a limb.
The brave boy, as if his manhood had been
assailed, relaxed his hold on the stump, turned
his face toward the cringing, unwounded, and
only half-sick complalner, and looked one such
look of proud contempt upon him as I had
never seen, then turning toward me, his mild,
pallid face beaming with the grand expression
of the hero, replied, " / think it better to have
lost my leg than to have no countryy
I know not whether he did or did not finally
recover, but living or dead his young manhood
was sublimely great.

WAR MEMORIES.

NO. 3.

AN HOUR AT CHICKAMAUGA.

A battle is really a monster tragedy. As a
whole, It is entirely Incomprehensible, and its
description utterly impossible. To one who
has ever looked on an actual conflict, where
two hundred thousand veterans luxuriate
"In the proud joy that warriors feel.
In foemen worthy of their steel,"
all the efforts of pen and pencil are stupidly
tame. Scraps only can be gathered from what
has been felt and seen by Individuals ; only
single heart-throbs can be counted. Many
circumstances conspire to produce this result,
and each of these is of vast proportions. The
immense size of the stage, battle usually raging
io6

WAR MEMORIES. IO7
over it at intervals, producing a series of con
flicts, each differing essentially from the other;
the vast number of the actors, the varied com
binations, and the multiplicity of form in which
the thunderbolts are hurled, combine to
render it impossible for any one to see more
than a mere speck, and each actor can only
give his view of the kaleldescope of carnage
— the carnival of blood.
But to the participants there is much more
than the simple movement of the human
chessmen on the checkered field. Few men
who have any refinement of soul can rid
themselves of a dread of taking human life.
The hero of twenty battles will scarce ever,even
In the utmost confidence, tell you when and
where he felt sure he killed his man. Proud
that he has done his duty, he shuts his eyes
to the unfortunate man or men who stood in
the way of his well-aimed musket. Not that
he rearrets that some must have fallen at his
hand, but he does not wish to know the
individual or to be certain of the fact. In a
general way he feels that a duty has been
performed, but In particularizing comes a re-

Io8 WAR MEMORIES.
gret for having possibly quenched a life that
was full of actual though misguided goodness;
quenched all its aspirations, all its hopes, and
even repentance itself, while behind all are
father, mother, friends, who have loved tender
ly, and who for the lost mourn so bitterly.
There Is, however, something in battle that
rouses the spirit, that transforms the soldier,
calling into service his pride, his courage, in
deed every great quality that distinguishes
him from the inanimate clod. That, from the
after contemplation of which he shrinks, he
then plunges into with the earnestness of
de-speration, speeding with iron coolness and
aim deliberate as death, the very missiles whose
effects he afterwards scarce dare think of.
How Indifferent he becomes to personal
danger; he rushes into the " imminently deadh-
breach," performing feats of valor unconscious
ly, ,and afterwards wonders why or how he
thus thrust his life Into the very jaws of death.
There Is something grand In the air of a battle
field, with Its moving lines approaching warily,
the first glimpse of the foe, the first ominous
boom of artillery, the first firing of the skirm-

WAR MEMORIES. IO9
ishers, the first volley of musketry, the first
charge, the thunder reverberating along the
lines, from woodland and valleys, from covert
places and points of especial advantage, that
rouses all the proud spirit, that electrifies the
whole being, and individuals become nothing,
even to themselves; a man becomes nothing,
being swallowed up in the great mass that is
now one grand giant, hurling blow on blow
against another giant whose staunch armor
seems Impenetrable, whose blows irresistible.
To a man who has thus been Individually lost,
merged as a mere atom In the one great giant
of battle, his life and all there was of him
for the time forgotten, there Is no battle pic
ture but the battle Itself; nothing arouses him
to the sublime height but the actual tragedy ;
and to one who has never even looked on the
drama of blood, never watched with eager ear
the boom of opposing artillery, the crash of
musketry, peered through the cloud of smoke
to see the colors he loved advancing or reced
ing, thrilled with every emotion of which the
soul is capable, save fear, while In uncertain
scale hangs the glory of victory or the humilia-

I IO WAR MEMORIES.
tion of defeat ; to such a one words are tame,
and the pencil of the artist or chisel of the
sculptor produces only the figures of a pan
tomime. There Is, in fact, an infinitude of
reasons why we can only catch here and there
a glimpse of the fearful drama, mere miniature
pictures that are preserved in the recollections
of the actors; the gems of the occasion that
even amid the hurling of living men 'gainst
belching cannon and glittering steel, burned
themselves into their memory, and now that
the general outline has faded away leaves them
clear-cut and definite. It is these incidents,
photographed upon the very brain of the ob
serving actors, that form the staple of conversa
tion among old campaigners. It was while
thus recently living an hour in the past, that
Lieut.-Colonel  gave me the following
incidents of personal observations, which I
have taken the liberty to designate "An Hour
at Chickamauga," and which I will give with
fidelity to facts, and as nearly as possible in
his own words. Said the Colonel :
Some Incidents of that struggle cling closely
to my memory, and are as clear to my mind as

WAR MEMORIES. Ill
if they had occurred but yesterday. They
were photographed on my brain amid the
shock and smoke of battle. One series occur
ring in quick succession, and In the order I
shall give them, impressed me deeply, and by
way of contrast are to me both thrilling and
pleasing. Our brigade was for some reason divided,
the 35th Indiana being attached to the 99th
Ohio, both commanded by the Colonel of the
latter regiment, P. T; Swayne. This little
brigade was held In reserve, a position in a
great battle-field that to the uninitiated might
have some allurements as one of comparative
ease and safety. But an old campaigner
will tell you that it is hard to watch the
progress of the struggle without participating,
to see the work of carnage and In it learn
your doom beforehand, and If you have a
morsel of fear in your nature, become palsied
by the sight while you wait for orders. Then,
where the battle Is hottest, when the line is
weakening, crumbling away, perhaps fleeing be
fore a victorious enemy, to receive your orders,
" Forward — double-quick — march ! Charge

112 WAR MEMORIES.
bayonet !" and rushing headlong into the storm
of rain and hail — and succeeding or failing
there, again fall back to again look on, to count
your losses, to note the comrades who have
just fallen, and again into the same desperate
vortex, charge again and again — that's what
it Is to be " the reserve."
Well, we were in reserve under Col. Swayne.
You will remember him well. He was as
genial a friend as ever clasped a hand — as
courtly a gentleman as ever smiled at the fair
— and as gallant a soldier as ever buckled on
a sabre. You will remember how, after that
fruitless and disgusting march, in which as raw
recruits wewere dragged through the Kentucky
campaign In '62, by Buel, in a fictitious pursuit
after Bragg, and In what an utterly broken-
down and dispirited condition he found us in
camp near Nashville, Tennessee. It was to
his skill, his discipline and his offices as the
most accomplished drill-master of the United
State.s service, that the 99th Ohio Volunteers
became unrivaled among volunteers and un
abashed in relation to everything that per
tained to the soldier, even In the presence of

WAR MEMORIES. 1 13
regulars, not at all omitting the actual shock
of battle. As an organization we owe him a
debt of gratitude, and as an individual now in
the path of peaceful pursuits, I cannot refrain
from " rendering unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's."
You will remember that. he was rather un
der size, with a clear complexion, thin mus
tache, and with a young look that did not tell
of the pith that had " set squadrons In the
field." He was scrupulously neat in his ap
parel, and on this occasion wore a bright blue
overcoat, the cape of which (lined with red)
was thrown back over his shoulders. For
some reason on this field he rode a white
horse through the entire series of actions,
which made him, with his blue overcoat and
the displayed red of the cape, a conspicuous
object. A voice cannot be described. That
of Col. Swayne was singularly sweet and musi
cal, and for purpose of drill and battle, most
perfectly under his control. Mid all the clash
and din, it rang out clear and distinct, with
out tremor or confusion, and that clear
voice giving. In battle, commands as precise
(8)

114 WAR MEMORIES.
as on parade, thrilled many a heart on that
day, and the little Colonel on his white horse,
moving to and fro, is a picture that none who
saw It will be likely to forget. But I have
said that under his command that day the
99th Ohio and 35th Indiana volunteers were
held In reserve.
It so happened that In one of the charges
made by the rebel troops near Widow
Glen's House, our line was shattered, and on
re-forming a gap was left to the right of the
brigade commanded by that accomplished
gentleman and soldier, General Harker, who
afterward fell waving his sword on the enemy's
works when leading his troops in a desperate
charge at Kenesaw mountain. Harker's
brigade was already hard pressed, and nothing
could save it from the crushing power of the
enemy but to meet, with stubborn hearts and
leaden sleet, that part of their line which was
in desperate purpose charging to pass through
this gap. In closed column and with quick
stride they bore a forest of bayonets, sendino-
a storm of balls to herald their coming.
Against this avalanche were here led the 99th

WAR MEMORIES. II5
and 35th, who closed the gap, and with fierce
volleys and naked steel caused them to quiver
and reel until their thinned line lost its pres
sure and its power. The wild shout of the
charge ceased, and hurriedly they retraced the
path that was strewn with their dead and
wounded. In the brief lull of battle that fol
lowed this gallant charge and desperate re
pulse, the lines were reformed and the 99th
and 35th were relieved. The enemy In the
meantime closed up his shattered columns to
again grimly d^fy powder and ball by charging
over the path strewn by their dead and dying.
This lull in the storm was as brief as the
combat before, and to follow was indescrib
ably terrible to our overpowered and shat
tered lines, who fought only with musketry
against the veteran columns of Longstreet,
aided by artillery that spread lurid smoke
around and swept the field with ball and shell.
While the reserve for this short interval await
ed orders, I looked to the left and saw in the
open wood the fearful tragedy of just such a
battle as that from which we had emerged.
A staff officer came out of this dark cloud

r.'O W.\E. irEMORrE.S.
and da.'.irving up to Colonel Swa^/ne i'-.-'O'e
him .some order. Ir. an instant -ve we"-; cc-'x't-
ing io column to the left and to-^'-irf ¦:?-»
rn ;i;I--trom of death. At the =a.':ie :'-,:a--: i-O'te
the terrific yell and cra.shir.g vollevs tlia" ^o!d
too plainly that the line we had left must again
face the tierce hurricane. 'I lie ground 0"er
wl'iieii we marched was s',vept ?jy an actua!
storm of leaden hail — solid shot crashed
through the trees or ploughed the ground,
while hissing shells exploding made hideous
every inch of space. The soil was splashed
up in our faces and the limbs and twigs
sliowcred upon us from above. Looking back,
I saw the line we had left crumbling away and
breaking, with what final result I do not know.
In this fearful tornado of danger and death
as on wc charged, I noticed In this wood an
object so strongly in contrast that it shocked
me. Lost — terrified — appalled — there behind
a log lay a little girl of about eight summers,
whose sweet frightened face was such a sad
reproof to the fierce passion of war. With but
a glance I turned away to rush into the fray
and never saw her more.

WAR MEMORIES. I I 7
Just beyond this belt of open wood we
quickly deployed into line of battle In an open
field and saw the line In front come wavering,
crumbling, crushed towards us.
Immediately to our right sat on a large bay
horse a general officer. He was utterly alone
• — no aid or orderly being near. The thun
der of battle swept along the front — to the
right, — to the left, — everywhere lines were
wavering and crumbling like ropes of sand.
But amid it all he was unmoved. That "good
right arm" knew not the tremulousness of fear
nor that soul the faltering of doubt. Alone,
unmoved surveying the field, calm as a bat
tle statue, sat the hero of Chickamauga !
Colonel Swayne rode up to him quickly,
saluted with the precision of a parade, and
receiving a calm salute in return, in his
crisp voice said, " Good morning. General
Thomas. How goes the battle ?" To which
General Thomas, with a sublime hopefulness,
replied, " Very well, very well, sir ! Move
your line forward !" And the elegant little
Colonel wheeled his horse, leaving the calm,
grand old hero alone to watch him and

Il8 WAR MEMORIES.
his brave command in the grapple with death.
Just at this moment the Colonel of some
Ohio regiment rode up to Colonel Swayne.
He was soiled with the dust and smoke of
battle, and tears, actual tears, rolled down
his cheeks — but they were the tears of a brave
man. As he rode up he said, hurriedly,"Colonel,
for God's sake, move forward your men, and
let me form my command In your rear. They
are being slaughtered like sheep. They are
running but they are not cowards. They are
overpowered." Then came the thrilling command, " For
ward — charge bayonet !" and the retreating
men passing through our line, we grappled
with an enemy flushed with victory. It was,
however, but a few moments before a shout in
our rear rose above the din of battle, and look
ing back I saw the men who had retreated,
under the lead of their gallant Colonel, come
sweeping down with the elegance of a parade,
their dread purpose told by their fierce shouts.
It is needless to add that there was grim
work there, nor that the enemy sullenly but
promptly sought more healthy quarters.

-WAR MEMORIES. II9
Thus I give this sketch of a series of pictures
that are so clearly defined In my mind, pictures
that were, in the tornado of battle, stamped on
my very brain on that terrible Sunday fore
noon. I see General Thomas, brave, bronzed,
cool and unmoved, as he sat on his bay charger
without any attempt at display or pomp — ^ut
terly alone in this very hell of battle — and
Colonel Swayne, mounted on his white horse,
his blue overcoat cape thrown back, splashing
his shoulders with red, as he rides up to him
and salutes — equally fearless, equally brave,
but jaunty, elegant, polished, — the sweet,
cowering face of that child gleams up from
behind the log, — I see the Ohio Colonel
weeping from sheer sorrow and chagrin, re
form his line and dash Into action ; and all set
in the thunder, the smoke, the crash and com
motion, the fierce yells, the groans and blood
of that terrific fray.
But to conclude, I will add an incident that
occurred during the afternoon of the same day.
As the waves of battle moved to and fro, it
often happened that the same ground was
charged over again and again, and thus the

I20 WAR MEMORIES.
dead and often the wounded would be swept
over by both friend and foe, and the ground
strewn with the bodies and soaked with the
blood of both " the Blue and the Grey." The
99th Ohio was charging over such a field to
support a hard pressed line. As they s-v^'ept
along and came near the line of battle, I saw
a Federal line officer lying at the root of a
tree. The blood was gushing from what
appeared to be a shell wound in his side,
its loss producing that fearful thirst that
makes a battle-field wound so terrible. To
the passers he appealed most piteously for a
drink of water. I stopped and raised him up
as best I could, and told him I could not now
go for water, but as soon as this fight was over
I would return. This was rather a precarious
promise, but I fulfilled it, as the struggle* was
short. It was really but a few minutes. I
found him reclining as I had placed him
against a tree. By an effort he had re
moved from his pocket the photograph of a
beautiful woman and two sweet-faced children,
which, grasped in his hands, was still held be
fore his face. He was dead.

WAR MEMORIES.

NO. 4.

A PRIVATE'S STORY.

I believe they call it strategy, and this was
the way of it.
General Banks was near Culpepper, with an
enemy in his front. General McClellan was
very anxious to be- relieved of a part at least
of the rebels that were materially interfering
with his comprehensive plans. For these Im
pressive reasons we were marched by General
Pope from Front Royal to join the first of
those officers, with the view of aiding him to
win a victory, or at least to compel the enemy,
in order to frustrate this plan, to weaken
their lines in front of " Little Mack," and thus
enable him to attack with prospect of success.

122 WAR MEMORIES.
At least that was the way we privates figured
it out. Certainly something deemed Important
was on hand, for we made forced marches, and
from experience you know that they are not
verj'^ amusing; particularly when, on approach
ing your destination, you hear the ugly rumble
of war, and at last catch glimpses of shells
bursting In the air. Such an outlook is so
uninviting that it requires qualities of a rare
order to inspire a desire to be there in prefer
ence to other places you then are apt to call to
mind. At least, my ambition to win glory did
not Increase as I approached the scene, and I
confess that I was not chagrined on our arrival
near Culpepper In the evening, to observe that
the battle of Cedar Mountain had corae to at
least a temporary suspension. I was rendered
quite comfortable by the thought that a little
rest would be afforded, with a lease on life for
another night ; to-morrow would take care of
itself. I did not know it then, but In fact a terrible
battle was expected on the following day, this
expectation being foiled by the early appear
ance of a flag of truce, asking for a suspension

WAR MEMORIES. I 23
of hostilities for the purpose of burying their
dead. This apparently humanitarian idea had
in it, as much of that commodity often has, a
selfish object and a spice of consummate mean
ness. It took two whole days to place the
dead out of sight and gather up the wounded
that were scattered over the field, when lo! the
enemy had disappeared. They had violated
every obligation of honor, every usage of civil
ized warfare by changing their position during
the delay thus obtained ; had made the graves
of their dead a cover behind which to ignobly
retreat !
General Pope being the ranking officer pre
sent, assumed command of the whole, and
being restive, with " his headquarters in the
saddle," we followed in pursuit. It was weary
work, for after marching two days along the
serpentine highway that winds around the
apparently Interminable mountains, we could
look down on the very battle-field we had
left, and see the yellow earth of the graves
that spotted its surface.
In due time we reached the Rapidan, and
soon found that General Lee had thought best

124 "WAR MEMORIES.
to weaken his lines in Gen. McClellan's front,
and had, by rapid movement, effected a junc
tion with the enemy immediately before us.
It was now our turn to " advance to therear,"
which we did with commendable eagerness, as
the rebels kept up a vindictive skirmishing
behind us that always inspires the feet if not
the spirits of retreating troops. Without going
into camp at all, we at last reached the north
fork of the Rappahannock river at Rappahan
nock station.
We found the river banks quite steep, the
stream being so narrow that a musket would
readily send a bullet across it. It was sufficient,
however, to aid us In making a temporary line
of defense, for the treble purpose of securing
needed rest and rations, and giving time for
the arrival of our expected reinforcements.
A new trestle-work bridge spanned the stream,
over which, with sullen cheerfulness, we march
ed, not, however, without observing that Its
timbers were covered with tar, and that on
either side were a row of tarred shavings
carefully adjusted In little piles.
The narrow valley ot the stream on the rebel

WAR MEMORIES. I 25
side swept upward into a range of hills, the
undulating face of which afforded few objects
that would protect advancing troops. Near
their end of the bridge were timber and stones
scattered promiscuously, being chiefly ' the
wrecks of destroyed bridges and buildings,
and a little distance above, the valley wore a
covering of tall grass. Where we were halted
the more level ground bore a few scattering
trees. Along the stream above us a compara
tively dense forest afforded a cover for our
troops there encamped. In order to delay as
much as possible the approaching enemy, a
detachment of Infantry worked Industriously
at throwing up a line of works In front of
and close to the rebel end of the bridge,
over which, when too closely pressed, they
could retreat and join us. We were not suf
ficiently worn out by the long and toilsome
march to prevent many of us from taking po
sition among the scattering trees, as an audi
ence to watch the drama that would surely be
enacted on the opposite hill and valley. Our
expectations were soon realized, for over the
crest soon appeared the wary skirmishers.

126 WAR MEMORIES.
Dusky brown figures, in slouch hats, each re
lieved by glitter of a gun, flitted here and there
as best they could for shelter, until each possi
ble ambush concealed its inquiring marksman.
From every available point arose the little
puff of smoke and sped the fierce bullet at the
devoted few, who, behind their frail works, de
fended the bridge. The hillside seemed alive
with spiteful demons, when suddenly the furies
were let loose from their grim cannon ju.st ar
rived upon the stage. Federal guns quickly
form In battery, and their shot and shell splash
into the face of the smiling but Infested hill
side. Shot hiss and shriek in their converging
flight and crash among the mere handful of
defiant men. They seem already doomed,
when on the crest appear swift moving cavalry
in grey, who to the fierce din add the music of
their carbines. With eyes intently fixed on the
terrific scene, we had not noticed their forma
tion, but as if by magic a cavalry column in blue,
with gleaming sabres, ride at quick pace across
the bridge, and without halt deploying, gallop
with reddened spurs into the faces of the foe.
Then came the crash of the avalanche against

WAR MEMORIES. I 27
the rock, hand to hand, and steel to steel. We
see nothing through the hazy smoke but the
flash and crash of blades, emptied saddles, and
the earth flecked with men that seem too brave
to groan. A rebel officer is dismounted, and
coolly drawing his revolver, commences firing
on a Federal sergeant, who Instantly spurs his
horse toward him. Like a statue, and as un
moved, stands the soldier In grey, delivering
his fire with quick and steady aim. The
sabre gleams in sweeping circle, and, slashing
through his neck, the head of the ill-fated of
ficer strikes the ground before his mangled
body. Under this dramatic cloud of smoke
and sabre-stroke, our infantry retreat across
the bridge, followed close by the cavalry, who
have saved them from death or a fate more
dreaded. Steadily the enemy have pressed on, until
the hillside seems a fiery sea, the border of
which has reached close to the end of the
bridge, supported by heavy masses of troops
that now appear on the grounds above them.
The picture is glorious, even to the actors in
many a bloody contest.

128 WAR MEMORIES.
Amid the multitude of spectators, and near
the end of the bridge, on his horse, sits Gen.
Pope, in anxious complacency, watching the
movements In the fray. He knows that the
rebel army is divided, and that the other part
¦will probably cross above. In spite of the ef
forts of General Siegel,and that his own safety
now consists in the destruction of the bridge,
that his pursuers may be delayed in crossing.
This fact is equally plain to all of us, for all
are practical men. With the thought comes
a shudder, for rebel cannon and musketry can
sweep every Inch of the narrow structure. The
delay of Its burning to this moment is evi
dently the result of a mischance. It must
be done now or never, and the General, turn
ing to the men, calmly inquires if "Any one
will volunteer to apply the torch." Not a man
moves or speaks a word, for every one has
noted both the necessity and the appalling
danger. It Is clearly the narrow way to cer
tain destruction! A repetition of the inquiry,
even from the lips of their commander, seems
only to rivet the feet and palsy the tongues of
men who have never turned on their heel in

WAR MEMORIES. 129
the face of battle peril. Every moment in
creases both the necessity and the danger of
the undertaking, when, in response to a third
inquiry, a soldier moves as if to step to the
front ; a comrade, quick as thought, seizes him,
saying, imploring, " No, no, my brother, you
must not go. It is but certain death !"
The grasp detains but a moment, for, shak
ing off" the unwelcome intruder, he steps quick
ly near the General, and gracefully saluting,
answers, calmly, " General, I will fire the
bridge !" Our astonishment appears to be
shared by the ofiicer, who evidently shrinks
from sending, on so perilous an errand, a man
who Is brave enough to offer, and after a mo
ment's hesitation asks him if he realizes the
difficulties of what he proposes to undertake
to do. Prompt, as brave, the soldier answers,
" Yes, General, I understand it." There was a
touch of tenderness in the voice of the officer
as he continued, " My brave boy, you will not
probably succeed in crossing the bridge ; It Is
scarcely possible that you can return alive.
There are three piles of shavings on either
side ; the furthest must be fired first, and the

130 WAR MEMORIES.
remainder as you come back. There must be
no mistake. If you go and return, you shall be
rewarded." Again touching his cap, he re
plies, calmly, " I will neither falter nor malce a
mistake," and instantly throwing off" his blouse,
cap and shoes, stands there a thin-faced boy
of nineteen, in ragged pants and shirt of blue!
Six torches are being lighted at the black
smith's forge, for which he waits without the
least concern, and as three are placed in each
hand, without the tremor of a muscle, without
a further word, he starts on a quick run. Our
very hearts stand still, as if we see a real
spectre. Even the rebels, who are within one
hundred yards of the bridge. In utter amaze
ment, cease firing. His hair floats In the wind
that fans the torches into a streaming blaze,
as with Increasing speed he passes the center
and places the first torch in the further pile of
shavings. The flashing blaze awakens the
enemy from their dream of admiration, and
instantly the bridge Is swept by a storm of
balls. Now, as if flying, he dashes a torch into
the next pile on his return, and crosses at an
angle to the third. The fierce musketry in-

WAR MEMORIES. 13 1
creases ; the smoke of powder and burning
tar is swept before him by the wind, and the
red flames glare as if the furies follow at his
heels. With well-guided but flying feet he treads
the path that seethes and boils with deadly
peril. His form glimmers dimly through the
cloud, as pile after pile is lighted, and each
time as he stoops our hearts stand still again
lest he shall rise no more. It seems that only
malignant hate can fill the hearts of those who
seek the life of an unarmed, beardless, daunt
less boy. Our muskets give expression to our
feelings, while unspoken prayers go thick and
fast to heaven. God protect him now ; he is
applying the last torch, and the dark cloud Is
swept around him, illumined by the forked
tongues of flame. Shot and shell and minnie
bullets hiss like the fierce waters of a moun
tain torrent, and to us he seems, through the
smoke, grown to giant size. His hands are
empty now, and he flies from those who hate to
those who love him, as they have never loved
man before. Moments are precious as life
and seem unending. Merciful heaven ! how

132 WAR MEMORIES.
our blood is frozen by the cry, "Look! Look!"
and we see him stagger for a step or two and
fall ! There on the earth he lies,'motionless !
No other thought occurs save that he, the
pride of our hearts, is dead. Cheeks turn pale
as we feel that he Is lost, and that the crown
of glory so richly deserved, so bravely won, he
shall never wear. But even in this extremity,
he seems sacred to his comrades, who rush
into the torrent to save what remains. Strong
arms, nerved with devotion, carry his limp
form Into an adjacent building. His clothes
are found to be riddled by balls, and here and
there a dark stain shows how death has touch
ed him, but without mortal harm. Never be
fore has the grim destroyer spared a mark so
shining, for he Is not really dead. His stout
young heart, yielding to the fearful strain,
failed only when the task was done, and, faint
ing, he had, with empty hands, fallen to the
ground. The word quickly reached the men
and shouts of thankfulness pierced the skies
above us.
True merit levels all distinctions, equals the
peasant to the prince, the private to his com-

WAR MEMORIES. 1 33
mander, and with that gallantry that attaches
to bravery, the General threw himself from his
saddle to take his soldier by the hand and
thank him again and again. The next day
the hero-hearted boy wore on his shoulders
the decorations he had earned by seeking
" glory or the grave."

"LL ur^IvERSITY

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