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THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA

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THE

SEVENTIETH INDIANA

VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION

BY
SAMUEL MERRILL

INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1900
BY
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY

V\A1

IN MEMORY
OF THOSE WHO, HAVING
ENROLLED THEIR NAMES WITH THE FIRST REGIMENT TO
ANSWER THE CALL OF THE
PRESIDENT IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO,
PLACED THEM BESIDE
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S ON THE RADIANT
ROLL OF HEROES
WHO DIED THAT THE NATION
MIGHT LIVE

PREFACE.

A New England clergyman with a -wide experience in
literary affairs, hearing that the author had undertaken
the history of the Seventieth Indiana Regiment, wrote to
a friend: "I am very, very sorry, for do what he may, he
will please nobody, will displease a good many, will con
sume an immense amotmt of time, and will make neither
money nor reputation."
His prophecy in regard to time has proved true, and
very likely the rest of it will be fulfilled, yet as the v\rork
was entered upon without thought of any of these things,
and only in response to the urgent request of the survivors
of the regiment, it is to be hoped that every member, bear
ing in mind the impossibility of producing anything satis
factory at this late date, will view the result indulgently,
and that at least nobody will be offended.
It will be seen by those who read the story, that while
the men who composed this organization were the equals
of any to be found in other regiments, and far superior to-
the average of the men who staid at home, they were only
human beings; that no effort has been made to hide faults
or mistakes, and that the aim of the -writer has been sim
ply to give a truthful record of the life of plain American
youth, who followed the flag until it floated over every
spot from which it had been torn down.
The children of the veterans, who may look in vain for
an account of the personal exploits of their fathers, must
lay their disappointment to the modesty of those fathers.

PREFACE
Again and again has come the reply to solicitation, "Oh,
I have nothing interesting to tell; I only did my duty."
A few whose letters or journals have been preserved have
kindly placed them in my hands, and the narrative is
largely formed from these sources. Comments made at
the time that incidents occurred are far more natural and
entertaining, often more exact, than any later composition
can possibly be.
The following persons have been of great assistance:
J. C. Bennett, J. M, Brown, P. S. Carson, R. W. Cathcart,
J. E. Cleland, W. H. Cooper, J. M, Eades, W, H. Elvin, G,
W, Grubbs, F, H. Huron, A. J. Johnson, J. H, Kelly,
L, H. Kennedy, J. L. Ketcham, W, M. Meredith, W, A,
Miller, W. R. McCracken, M. G. McLain, D. M. Ransdell,
A. W. Reagan, S. B. Robertson, Wm. Sharpe, J. F. Snow,
J. Stoops, G. C. Thompson, W. W. Wilhite, J. I, Wills,
J. M. Wills.
U, H. Farr has been untiring in his efforts to procure
information, R. M. Smock in attending to necessary cor
respondence, and their names should lead all the rest,
IndianapoHs, May 30, 1900, S, M.

THE HISTORY
OF THE
SEVENTIETH INDIANA REGIMENT.

CHAPTER I.
GOING, GOING, GONE !
The failure of General McClellan to take Richmond dur
ing the last days of June, 1862, and the great losses of
the Union army in the battles near that city, made ap
parent the necessity for more soldiers. On July first
President Lincoln accepted the proposition of the Gover
nors of the loyal States to raise more troops, and decided
to call into the service an additional force of three hun
dred thousand men.
Oliver P. Morton, Governor of Indiana, on the seventh
issued a proclamation in which occurs the following sen
tence: "I therefore call upon every man, whatever may
be his rank and condition in life, to put aside his business
and come to the rescue of his country. Upon every man
individually let me urge the solemn truth, that whatever
may be his condition or business, he has no duty or busi
ness half so important to himself and family as the speedy
and effectual suppression of the rebeUion."
On the fourteenth recruiting officers were appointed in
all the congressional districts of the State, with power to
enlist men for the term of "three years, or during the war."
By August twelfth ten companies had been raised in Hen-

2 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
dricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan and Shelby counties,
and were encamped on a common west of Indianapolis,
where they were mustered into the United States service
as the Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry by Col.
J. S. Simonson, U. S. A.
While many of the men composing this body of troops
were from Indianapolis, and from the towns and villages
of the neighboring counties, the majority were from the
country, farmers and sons of farmers. The current remark
"that the job of suppressing the rebellion had proved too
big for the boys, and that it was now time for the men to
go to their help," conveys a wrong impression, for many
had not enHsted before because they had not attained the
required age. It is true, however, that a large number
who enlisted were men profoundly convinced that all was
lost, unless they made the sacrifice of leaving their wives,
their children and their business until the Government
should be re-established.
Many incidents in connection with enlistments for this
regiment throw a light on the heroism of the national
character. One. mother exclaimed, "I could not have felt
he was my son had he hesitated." Another, "My son, you
will be faithful. It is a noble duty." A boy, an only child,
who wished to enlist, asked the recruiting officer to see
his mother and gain her consent. There was an indescrib
able radiance on her beautiful face as she replied, "Yes,
he may go. Horw can I refuse to give my son to the
country when I remember that my Heavenly Father gave
His only son to save the world?"
To the fathers and mothers the enhstment of their sons
was a terribly serious thing, and to the man who was
leaving wife and children it was inexpressible anguish; but

GOING, GOING, GONE ! 3
to the boy, who had been longing for the time when he
should be old enough or large enough to be acceptable,
the only distress was the fear that the mustering officer
would fail to receive him.
U. H. Farr of Company D, who had not yet seen his
sixteenth birthday, says: "The fife was playing, the drums
were beating, and the new soldiers fell into line. When
I saw among them boys no larger than myself I suddenly
resolved to see if they would take me, and stepped into the
ranks with the others. I kept the step till the war was
over." As the recruits came into camp they were supplied with
Sibley tents, each of which was supposed to accommodate
twenty men. These conical dwelhngs, when pitched, were
about twelve feet high and fifteen feet in diameter at the
bottom. For a door there was a slit in the side, and for
the escape of smoke and foul air a hole in the top, over
which a cap could be fitted to keep out the rain. At night
the men lay facing the same way, with a fit so perfect, that
when one restless slumberer turned, all had to turn; a sure
disturbance of sleep, and an excuse for ill humor and strong
language. Two wall tents were allotted to the three com
missioned officers of each company. The field and staff
were accommodated in a similar manner.
Experience is a dear teacher, but efficient. When, three
or four nights after camp was formed, a heavy rain flooded
the ground, the men sprang up with a yell, and learned
without further instruction to put a trench about their
tents. Previous to mustering the regiment into the service the
recruits were rigidly examined, being stripped by the
surgeons and scrutinized, as a jockey looks for defects in.

4 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
a horse before a purchase. The youth who would admit
that he was under eighteen years of age, or the graybeard
that he was over forty-five, was dismissed from the ranks
by Colonel Simonson as unfit for the hardships of war.
On the morning of the twelfth of August the regiment
was mustered into the service of the United States, and
in the evening marched to the arsenal and received Enfield
rifles. It spent the night on the verandas of the old State
house. The following morning, August thirteenth, 1862, the
Seventieth Indiana, under the command of Colonel Benja
min Harrison, marched through the streets, crowded by
friends, to the J. & I. R. R. station. Company E claimed
the honor of shedding the first blood, when just as the
engine was about to pull out, Wm, Cooper taught a citizen
not to utter unpatriotic sentiments while farewells were
being spoken. While the train was on its way southward
a huge bull planted himself on the track and disputed its
passage. His courage was more commendable than his
prudence. The omen -was favorable, for this opposer of
civilization "made way for liberty and died."
The thousand men and more who composed the regi
mental organization arrived in Louisville in the evening,
thus reaching the country that had been overrun by the
enemies of the Government in less than a month from the
time the first man was enlisted. It was thus the first regi
ment from any of the Northern States to enter the region
where disloyalty prevailed, all the members of which had
been enlisted after the demand made by President Lincoln,
July first, 1862.
During the march through Louisville most of the citi
zens looked on in sullen silence, though from one residence
ladies came out bearing waiters full of cakes and pies.

GOING, GOING, GONE ! 5
which they offered to the boys; and negroes could not
restrain their joyous laughter and cheers. The regiment
encamped just south of the city, but on the following
evening was ordered to strike tents in a driving rain and
enter box cars preparatory to a journey southward. These
cars had been used to convey cattle, and the author of
Knickerbocker's History of New York would have de
scribed them as fragrantly cushioned for the military
occupants. As John Morgan had captured Gallatin two days before,
and the train was headed in that direction, there -was
danger of interference on his part with this movement.
Though familiar with firearms used in hunting, our tyros
were not accustomed to weapons of war, and had to be
instructed hastily in the methods of loading their muskets.
As we jolted along at night through an enemy's country,
with raw recruits lying on loaded guns, it might be difficult
to decide whether the danger was greater from within or
from without.
The regiment reached Bowling Green on the morning
of the fifteenth, and encamped at the foot of a hill about
a half mile from the village. Here it was assigned to a
Provisional Brigade, under command of Colonel S. D. Bruce,
and was immediately given to understand that war, for the
present at least, meant study, watchfulness and work.

CHAPTER II.
CAMP EXPERIENCES
The companies were located in camp as they were let
tered, A upon the right, K upon the left, and to E was at
tached the regimental color guard. Reveille was at five
o'clock; company drill was from five to six; breakfast at six;
guard mounting from seven to eight; officers' drill was from
eight till nine; police duty from nine to ten; company drill
from ten till twelve; dinner at twelve; non-commissioned
officers' drill was from one till two; battalion drill was from
two till four; supper at five; dress parade from six to seven;
roll call at eight; lights out at nine.
The regiment was supplied with water from a spring
near the residence of a disloyal man named Elrod. A
guard was stationed by the fountain to see that "first
come was first served," and that there was no interference
with its purity. On the night of the sixteenth the soldiers
had their first experience of being called out after dark,
A man, afterwards ascertained to be a young Confederate
physician, at home on leave of absence, had crept through
the small cedars that grew near and fired at the sentinel,
Josiah Deer of Company I, wounding him severely. The
noise of the firing was instantly followed by the dismal
sounding of the long roll. Then came the hurrying of
men to the color line, many half dressed, and a few carry
ing their clothes in their arms, having in their haste left
their guns in their tents. Company K was detached and
did much scouting through brier bushes and cornfields
in the vain search for an enemy, concluding with the

CAMP EXPERIENCES 7
stationing of twenty men for the night near the point
where the firing had been heard.
A few nights after there was a fusillade from the direc
tion of the place where the teamsters were encamped, and
with it the hideous clatter of the drums and the exciting
cry of "Fall in." An insubordinate from Company E, who
was gifted in getting himself arrested and in escaping from
confinement, was at this time under arrest, in charge of
a guard especially instructed to use watchfulness. At the
sound of the firing both guard and prisoner flew to their
quarters, and the latter, as his size entitled him, took his
place near the head of his company. When the regiment
was formed in line Colonel Harrison detached a dozen men
from Company E to attend him to the place where the
firing was heard. It became evident that some of the
teamsters had been drinking and were the guilty authors
of all the excitement, but no one would admit that he had
fired a gun. Instantly the former guardhouse occupant,
who had marched in the darkness by the side of his com
mander, suggested: "Colonel, if you -will put your finger
in the muzzle of the guns you will find who did the firing."
The Colonel knew the voice, turned and looked at the
speaker. He took the advice, but said nothing. What
could be done with such a brave incorrigible?
To most of the men the silence of night at home had
been broken only by "the watch dog's honest bark," or the
clarion voice of the "bird of dawning;" so the diabohcal
sound of the long roll inspired more terror than courage.
It was amusing to hear the confusion in the tents, men
searching for their clothes or their arms, tumbling over
each other in their efforts to put their legs in their trousers,
agonizingly inquiring, "Where's my shoes, my hat, my

8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
accoutrements," as if mother or wife were at hand. It was
even more ludicrous to see men standing in line of battle
in shirt sleeves, or with white legs, sho-wing their inability
to find coats or pantaloons. Some afterwards averred that
their hair would not let their hats stay on their heads, and
that the last dying words spoken through chattering teeth
were, "Tell her I died at the post of duty." The statement
was made that after one of the night scares several men
were found lying in a hole, and that they emerged only
when assured there had been a false alarm. The time came
when no man thought of undressing at night.
As an illustration of what experience and discipline did
for these men, the words of an officer of the Seventieth,
writing from Georgia two years later, may here be quoted:
"I could not sleep, and was standing at midnight on the
breastworks. Suddenly there was a blaze of light on the
picket line, and a volley fired a few yards in front. In
stantly, without a word or tap of drum, the defenses bristled
from end to end with glittering bayonets."
The road to perfection, however, was a long one and
hard to travel. Disciphne is hateful to the young soldier,
but it is his best friend. It wakes him up. It straightens
and strengthens him. It makes him Supple. It gives him
patience, and endurance, and vigilance. It almost gives
him courage. At the least, it is a good backing, for it sets
him in control over all his forces.
At the beginning, ignorance prevailed among officers
as well as among men. Stories were rife of officers falling
flat as they marched backward in front of their companies,
of their helplessly rushing men into obstacles, of their ex
pecting wheeling to be done when they gave the order
"swing around like a barn door," of their giving command

CAMP EXPERIENCES 9
exactly as laid down in the tactics, that is, without omitting
"to the right or left as the case may be," of their command
ing "Arms eport," of orders as impossible of execution as
going east and west at the same time. However, the men
in Hne had quite as much difficulty in executing properly
given orders as those not according to Hardee. Ignorance
gradually gave way to intelligent command and proper
execution. Reveille called everybody to business at the first blush
of dawn ; and from then till darkness forbade further work,
there seemed to be continuous drilling, excepting during
the hours devoted to cooking and eating. The duties of
dress parade, guard-mounting, and inspection were easily
learned, and in time the perplexities of company and bat
talion drill were mastered, but by far the most difficult
thing to acquire was obedience to authority; especially
when orders seemed to be unreasonable, or were given in
an imperious manner by the lately commissioned, who
had been boon companions at home. Some of the of
ficers felt sincere compunction when obliged to punish
refractory subordinates, that could see no fault, nor even im
propriety in disobedience. One such officer writes to his wife :
"The hardest thing about this life, and a thing that often
makes me feel like resigning, is the necessity of punishing
boys, fine fellows in many respects, who take to disobedi
ence as a duck does to water. One cannot keep from
feeling that the parents, not the sons, should be punished
for having allowed their homes to be little nurseries of
anarchy." The resentment of the citizen soldier to the exercise of
authority on the part of his superiors, and his feeling of
equality, whatever might be the difference of rank, may

10 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
be illustrated by an incident which throws light also on the
duties and privileges of all concerned, in the daily recurring
labor of guard-mounting. The genial Adjutant Mitchell
says: "The boys had been torturing me by talking, laugh
ing, etc., for a long time, so I determined to put a stop to
it. To carry out this design, I made a little speech one
morning, informing them that the next one transgressing
military rules while on duty would be punished. I had
barely finished when a man turned sidewise in the ranks,
nudged his comrade with his elbow, and began talking.
I immediately ordered that gentleman two paces in front,
and put him through the manual of arms for two minutes.
After I retired that night I heard a noise at the stable, and
hastily rushed out, extricated my horse from an entangle
ment, and started back to my tent. I had not gone far
when I heard the stern command 'Halt!' and "who comes
there?' With the reply, 'A friend -without the counter
sign,' I suddenly recollected that I had forgotten in my
haste to get the countersign. Here I was outside the lines,
confronted by the man whom I had punished in the morn
ing. That man had the authority on his side, and ordered,
'Mark time!' I began to mark time, but told the guard
to call for the Sergeant, so I could get the countersign and
enter; but he commanded, 'Mark time faster!' I increased
my speed. The guard ordered 'Double quick !' That was
too much. I stopped and said: 'I'll mark time no longer.'
To this came the response, 'If you don't mark time I'll
shoot you.' Here was a moment of awful suspense. Would
he shoot or not? If I double-quick, he will tell the com
mand that the Adjutant is the biggest coward in the army.
He will say he scared me into marking time till I wore
myself out. So I said, 'Just shoot.' I heard his gun-trig-

CAMP EXPERIENCES II
ger click, and I wondered whether he would shoot. In
a moment the guard lowered his gun, said he knew me to
be the Adjutant, and on second thought believed he would
not shoot."
The same officer had great difficulty in teaching a soldier
of German birth the language to be used when he was
approached at night. About two in the morning the
Adjutant had occasion to cross the picket line on which
this man was stationed. Of course "Halt!" which is both
German and English, rang out, but no"whO' comes there ?"
was called. The officer waited a few moments, then
started forward, but was abruptly stopped with, "Halt, I
zay!" The night was cold, so after a few minutes of hesi
tation and shivering, another advance was made, to cease
instantly with a shudder, at the click of the rifle-trigger,
and the angry cry of the sentinel, "Halt, I zay, or I'll do
you somedings." Fortunately the Sergeant of the guard
chanced to be nearby, and put a stop to what might have
been a serious affair.
What added immensely to disciplinary difficulties was
the fact that letters were constantly received from disloyal
men in the North, encouraging dissatisfaction, and advis
ing desertion. As a result of this treasonable advice, much
unhappiness prevailed, and several homesick youths were
marked on the rolls for a time as absent without leave. In
response to a letter from his father in regard to deserting,
J. M. Brown of Company D, whose faithfulness has been
rewarded in another world, writes: "You need not be
uneasy about my deserting. If I don't get out of the
army until I desert it, I will stay in the army all my life."
Attendance on the Sunday service was good, and as
there were many excellent musicians in the regiment, Com-

12 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
pany I abounding in them, the singing was always inspiring.
The exercises were closed on the first Sunday by rather
a strange doxology, in the form of three cheers, caused
by the disposition of the soldiers, whenever anything
pleased them, to express their pleasure by a yell.
At dress parade the Chaplain, Rev. A. C. Allen, led in
prayer, the men removing their hats and standing in rever
ential attitude. Among them was one whose habits of
thought had been formed under German skies, and by
atheistic influences. He asserted that he would do vio
lence to his conscience if he uncovered his head in recog
nition of a Being who did not exist. His repugnance to
expressions of reverence, or considerations of courtesy,
ascribed by his comrades not so much to conscientiousness
as to cantankerousness, was the cause of both amusement
and vexation to the authorities, but in time a place was
found for himi in another branch of the service, where his
tender conscience was less likely to be wounded.
The Chaplain was a favorite with his little church mili
tant. His venerable form, his head crowned with snow-
white locks, his benignant countenance, impressed his
youthful flock when he passed by, with the feeling that a
benediction had been pronounced. At his kindly approach
the flask disappeared, the pack of cards dropped out of
sight, and the half-uttered oath died unspoken.
In the mess to which he belonged were three mirth-
loving young officers, on whose heads the bump of rever
ence was not fully developed. Learning that he had never
tasted intoxicating liquors, they devised a plan by which
they could ascertain whether he had a natural liking for
the article so largely manufactured in Kentucky. He cer
tainly had a natural and a cuhivated fondness for greens.

CAMP EXPERIENCES 13
SO these mischievous youngsters emptied the vinegar cruet
and filled it with Robinson county whisky. When dinner
was ready, the Chaplain poured on a plentiful supply of
the supposed vinegar. After taking a mouthful or two he
leaned back, wiped his chin, cleared his throat, and burst
forth with : "It's astonishing what a difference a few de
grees in latitude make in vegetation. I have been eating
greens all my life, but never have I tasted such a delicious
dish as this."
A ration or daily allowance of food for each man was
composed of twelve ounces of bacon, or one pound four
ounces of beef, one pound six ounces of soft bread or
flour, or one pound of hard bread; and to every one hun
dred men were issued fifteen pounds of beans, eight pounds
of coffee, fifteen pounds of sugar, four quarts of vinegar,
one pound four ounces of candles, four pounds of soap,
and three pounds twelve ounces of salt. Rice, potatoes,
meal and molasses were seldom issued, but desiccated,
compressed, mixed vegetables were sometimes substi
tuted. When bread gave out the preparation of food from
flour was perplexing. The customary method was to make
the flour into a batter with water, and boil it in grease, as
the boys had seen their mothers cook doughnuts. These
slapjacks came dripping from the unctuous fluid, and
though not garnished with honey or treacle, were vo
raciously and imprudently devoured by the self-satisfied
cooks. When frying was preferred to boiling, the culinary
artists were skilful in throwing the cakes from the frying
pans high in the air, turning them in the descent.
The hardtack or sea-biscuit, though by all odds the most
wholesome article of food the soldier received, was not

14 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
always appreciated. "A good-natured lad," to quote from
an officer's letter, "who is toasting a cracker, exclaims,
'Gosh, boys, this here's more'n splendid,' while another
who has been pampered at home retorts, 'By jingo, I
could cut a nice chunk from a hickory log and make a
decenter breakfast of it.' " J. M, Brown writes to his sis
ter: "I am getting so I can wash my shirts as well as
any woman. I'll bet I can beat you." Again: "I tell you
what, soldiering is good to make a man be punctual, and
not be so particular about his eating."
In time, negroes who had escaped from their masters,
or who had been deserted by them, attached themselves to
the camp. Although most of these vagrants had never
seen any instrument but a hoe or an ax, it was taken for
granted that they would make excellent cooks, so the
culinary department of the regiment was largely placed in
their hands. The game of hide and seek was often played
in camp by slaves and pursuing masters, but as the negro
had the sympathy of the soldiers in the play, a case in
which the master won was never recorded. The ignorance
and the stupidity of many of the contrabands, as the es
caped slaves were then called, were almost past belief. One
day a negro walked into camp with a sack across his
shoulders, the jug in one end of which was balanced by
a stone in the other end.
While the men were at their meals there was much de
bate on subjects of current interest, as why it was that
boiling made a shirt shrink till it became a halter around
the owner's neck, while the same process stretched socks
till holes in the heels were found on the calves of the wear
er's legs? ,Why a prohibitory liquor law should be ex-

CAMP EXPERIENCES IS
clusively for the benefit of the privates? Why the surgeons
prescribed Dover's Powders for rheumatism, measles, ty
phoid fever, mumps and itch? No one was able to tell
why, in the most harrowing circumstances, it was always
appropriate and laughable for one fellow to yell "Grab a
root," and another a quarter of a mile away to howl in
response, "Here's your mule."
Now and then the men were amused, possibly instructed,
if an exalted opinion of their own attainments permitted,
by watching the evolutions of other troops. "A critter
company," as people in the neighborhood called the cav
alry, made a charge on the common in front of the regi
ment. When a trooper ran over a cow and rolled in the
dust with the two animals the men of the Seventieth were
delighted to find themselves not the only blunderers.
It was naturally hard for Kentucky Union officers to
keep from grieving for the devastation that necessarily
swept over their State, in having it made the seat of war.
The commander of the post. Colonel S. D. Bruce, a very
pleasant gentleman, was a Kentuckian, as one might
gather from his instructions to a Captain who had charge
of a scouting expedition: "Tell your men to beware of
entering orchards, or cornfields." "Any other instructions.
Sir?" "No! Well, yes. You may also tell them to be
on the alert for Morgan." We cannot wonder at the bit
ter words in a letter of the officer so instructed: "It is
more important to keep the men from surprising a corn
field, or a turnip patch, than to keep Morgan from sur
prising the men. And this, too, while poor fellows from
want of fresh food are sickening daily unto death."
The hot days and cold nights of September, the poor

l6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
water, the half-cooked beans, the pancakes soaked -with
grease, the want of variety, resulted in numerous cases of
sickness. At first the men from the farms suffered most,
as they had been unaccustomed to irregularities in sleep
and had not been exposed to contagious diseases, such as
the measles, mumps, and whooping cough, but it was not
long until almost every one paid the penalty to the radical
changes in the method of living.
In spite of all precautions many went to the comfortless
hospital, where millions of flies and insects more disgusting
rioted, and there remained till their comrades bore them
out for burial. Company after company formed with re
versed arms and followed the wailing fife and muffled drum,
as the wild melody of Pleyel's Hymn, or other equally sol
emn tune, quivered on the air. When the order came, no
more funeral dirges, no more volleys over the sleeping
dust, because of the depressing effect on those who
tremblingly trod the border line of life and death, all began
to learn the stem nature of war. No place for the delicate
attentions of affection, no' place for tokens of regard for the
departed, no place for sighs, no place for tears, "Let the
dead bury their dead."
In a letter an officer says: "My compan]^ seems to be
fated. After I had come to the conclusion that so many
had died, surely no more would be taken, four died in less
than a week. Strange that life in the open air, with really
but little exposure — for we have not seen hard service —
should result so unfortunately. I am weary of being Cap
tain. It is so terrible to see men die whom one has per
suaded from their homes."
To add to the depression that spread through the regi-

CAMP EXPERIENCES 17
ment, the indefatigable Morgan captured Wilder's com
mand, stationed at Mumfordsville, tore up the railroad
tracks, and burned the bridges, severing all connection with
the North, so that the men were obliged to^ live for six
weeks without letters from home, hitherto their daily
solace.

CHAPTER III,
IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR
Scarcely had the njen an excuse for complaining of the
monotonous routine of drilling and picket, when the dis
agreeable, vexatious and inglorious work of guarding
trains and chasing the ubiquitous Morgan was assigned
to them; duties quite as dangerous as contending in open
field with the enemy.
To use the well-chosen language of Miss Catharine Mer
rill, the author of "The Soldier of Indiana :"
"Morgan was at home everywhere. He entered at night
the house of a friend within the Federal lines, slept in the best
bed, and departed with only a sly recognition. He walked on
the streets of a to-wn which was full of Federal soldiers, chaf
fered with the tradespeople, gave them a wink, and re
ceived from them the result of their observations as to
the numbers or movements of the enemy. He went into
a Federal telegraph office, sent a dispatch to a friend, or
an enemy, in the North, and walked off unsuspected, or
with threats imposed silence until his safety was secured.
He waylaid a train, destroyed the cars and took the pas
sengers prisoners. But his most common performance
was a sudden swoop on Federal pickets."
His, however, was the "vaulting ambition which o'er-
leaps itself." The conspirators before the rebellion had
promised their deluded followers to carry the war into
the Northern States, saying that the havoc would not be
in the South, and they put forth frantic efforts to accom
plish their purpose, but every attempt was baffled, Gen-
18

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR ig
eral Morgan rushing into the penitentiary and General
Lee into the stunning defeat at Gettysburg. "Poor Mor
gan," as his admirers speak of him on account of his fate,
whose dehght had been to surprise and to kill, escaped
from confinement to find that "even-handed justice com
mends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice to our own
lips." How could foot soldiers in a region entirely new to
them be expected to catch this bold but wily cavalryman,
to whom every road and lane, every stream and hill was
familiar? The authorities at Washington did not expect
anything of the kind, but the enthusiastic lads, whO' now
made their headquarters at Bowling Green, longed to do
the unexpected, — one might say to accomplish the im
possible. They were ordered to protect the stores of pro
visions and ammunition, to guard the bridges and that
part of the railroad placed in their charge, and this they
did most faithfully, but the desire to put a stop to the
career of the audacious guerrilla was irrepressible.
On August twenty-first thirty men under command of
Lieutenant Matlock were detailed to guard a train to
Franklin, about twenty miles south of Bowling Green,
August twenty-sixth Companies A, B, C, D, E, and F
went down the railroad on the cars in search of an enemy,
but returned in the evening after a bootless chase. Sep
tember second one of the pickets was shot, and on the
following day a foraging party was attacked. September
third six companies mounted the train in pursuit of Mor
gan, who was reported to be in Franklin. Sixteen strag
glers were captured by the cavalry that had accompanied
the expedition, but the valuable part of Morgan's com
mand was far on its mischievous way. Seotember elev-

20 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
enth, just at dark. Companies B and I boarded a train for
Russellville, a town on the Tennessee border, secession to
the core. It was considered desirable that the Union
cavalry regiment stationed at that place should fall back
with whatever stores were in its possession, and as an
attack was expected, the infantry would be useful in pro
tecting the wagons. On the following day, while waiting
for the wagons to be loaded, the men strolled into the
neighborhood of the female academy, attracted as steel
to the loadstone. Young men are always interested in
woman's education. They were saluted -with cheers for
Jeff Davis,
At night the column moved northward, a squadron in
front, the infantry and wagons in the center, and the rest
of the cavalry in the rear. As the darkness was intense,
there was much stumbHng over rocks and stumps. On
the following day the march through the heat and dust
was exhausting, and when Bowling Green was reached in
the evening, the forty miles having been done in twenty
hours, the men declared each foot weighed a ton. A day
or two later an officer of Buell's army remarked: "That
new regiment, so finely dressed, will soon play out on a
long march." Whereupon Colonel Bruce spoke up with,
"Don't you fool yourself! That regiment is hell on a
march. It outmarched a cavalry regiment the other day."
This toilsome journey was the last J. W, Howard of Com
pany I, was called upon to make, for he was drowned in
Barren river on September fourteenth.
Just at this time Buell's command made its appear
ance in its great race with Bragg northward. The Sev
entieth regiment had no language strong enough to ex
press its delight at meeting old friends, and its admiration

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 21
for the noble veterans composing the retreating army. The
men enjoyed chaffing their acquaintances of Buell's troops,
for being outgeneraled by Bragg, but received the retort
that the good-for-nothing bridge protectors had failed to
keep the road from being torn up, so Buell's whole force
had to go back to Louisville to get a supply of clothing
for the winter. No attention was paid to the claim of the
regiment that no portion of the road it was set to watch
had been destroyed.
These veteran friends slipped in at night and carried off
the Seventieth's cooking utensils and everything else they
could lay their hands on, while they consumed all the
fresh vegetables far and near, so the only sauce the un
happy bridge guards had for their fritters during the re
maining weeks of their stay in Bowling Green was an
occasional execration of the retreating heroes who knew
so well how to take care of themselves. John E. Cleland of
Company I writes dolefully: "Our camp kettle has shrunk
into a tin cup and our skillet into a sharp stick." How
ever, as the regiment had to do provost duty in town dur
ing the few days the army was passing, there was some
satisfaction in filling the filthy jail with pilfering stragglers.
At night the rumbling of the wagons of the Confederate
army was heard by our men on the outposts. William
Sharpe of Company C writes: "While on picket, I was
told that there ^vas a large peach orchard about a mile
away, close by the road on which the rebels were march
ing. Three of us struck out for this orchard, but as we
entered the lower part we spied some men in gray at the
upper end. I heard them cock their guns, and called out,
'Don't shoot! All we are after is a good bite of peaches.'
'That's what we want,' they yelled back, 'and if you won't

22 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
bother us we won't bother you.' The truce held good and
we reached the picket post with haversacks full of ripe
peaches." Among the myriad living creatures Buell's legions left
in exchange for the regiment's valuables were several black
men. One of these, a mulatto called Alabam, after the
State honored as his birthplace, is worthy of notice on
account of the size of his feet, which bulged out as far
behind his legs as they protruded in front. As cold weather
approached Quartermaster AlHson, after much search,
found a pair of number fourteen shoes, just long enough,
but as Alabam's feet were two story affairs, much of the
upper leather had to be slit and some of it removed. Ala
bam acted as laundryman for Colonel Burgess, and for
reasons every soldier will understand, boiled the clothes all
night. One evening, for the joke of the thing, the Colonel
gave him some soiled paper collars, whicH Alabam put into
the camp, kettle to receive the same treatment as the shirts.
In the morning the negro rushed to the Colonel's tent in
alarm, exclaiming, "O Colonel, dem dar coUahs done
biled all to pieces, and de graybacks is a swimmin' 'roun' on
de bilen water."
This same contraband, to quote Colonel Harrison's
words, "improvised a banjo from the rim of a cheese-box
and an old parchment. The banjo had only one string, and
his song only four words, but the picking and the song
had the longevity if not the melody of the brook. Hired
by some mischievous fellows, the musician would seat him
self by my tent, and begin a serenade more trying to the
nerves and more hostile to sleep than bursting shells,"
"Purty little Rhody gal, Purty little Rhody gal," going
on forever, keeping step to the twang of a banjo string.

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 23
brought the sleeping warrior to his tent door, uttering
words instructive to the howling musician and highly en
tertaining to the hidden employers.
On September seventeenth the regiment was ordered to
leave the position hitherto occupied and encamp on a slope
north and near the foot of College Hill. As at Louis
ville, striking tents was done in a driving rain, and night
came on while work was still unfinished. The new camp,
though better for defense, was a mile away from the spring,
and water had to be carried in casks. There were few
springs or wells near the picket posts, so the men on duty
quenched their thirst by taking lighted candles and de
scending sink-holes, in some places more than a hundred
feet deep, in order to find running water. Sunday after
noon, September twenty-first, the church members of the
regiment assembled in front of the Colonel's tent and the
Chaplain administered the sacrament.
J. M. Wills of Company C writes: "On September
twenty-eighth, Captain Ragan and company were ordered
to escort fifty paroled prisoners by rail (hog train) to
Franklin, and turn them loose. While there we loaded
one car partially with cured meats. Where they came
from was always a mystery to me. I and Charles Dinwid-
die of my mess, looked on these smoked hams with long
ing, so I took all my clothing out of my knapsack except
a pair of drawers and gave it to Dinwiddle. I selected the
best-looking ham, wrapped it in the drawers, and put it in
my knapsack. On our return trip the boys thoughtlessly
began firing at trees along the road. This scared the
videttes on outpost duty, so they and the infantry, too,
fell back. It so happened I did no shooting on that trip,
but while sitting by the door of the car with the muzzle of

24 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
my gun hanging out, the minie ball slid out. Captain
Ragan tried to stop the shooting, but the noise of the
train drowned his voice, and none heard him except those
that were in his car. When we alighted from the train at
Bowling Green he ordered us to form in line and open
ranks. I thought he was going to inspect knapsacks, and
if he found the ham it meant a guard-house sentence. To
my delight it was only an inspection of guns, and though
the ball in my rifle was out, the cap was on the tube. The
Colonel made a big growl about the shooting, but the
only punishment he inflicted was a reprimand to the Ser
geants. The ham did not belie its looks in the least;
it was as sweet as I ever ate in my life."
At nine o'clock A. M., September thirtieth, five hun
dred men of the Seventieth Indiana and about one hun
dred from the Eighth Kentucky cavalry and from Com
pany K, Sixtieth Indiana, all under the command of Col
onel Harrison, took stock cars for Russellville, where
report said a Confederate regiment was being recruited. As
the train approached Auburn it was found that the enemy
had burned the bridge over Black Lick, but the enthusiastic
work of the men under the intelligent supervision of Cap
tain Fisher, an old railroad contractor, ably assisted by
Captain Carson, made an entire change in the condition
of affairs. The woods furnished heavy timbers for piers
and stringers to span the forty feet of space where fire had
wrought destruction. This material was cut, carried and
placed in position by the men. Crossties and spikes were
picked up, crooked iron rails were straightened, and in
less than three hours the ravine was passable.
While the bridge was building, small detachments were
sent out in different directions and several prisoners were

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 25
brought in. Two companies surrounded the village and
cut off communication with Russellville. An officer was
ordered to take his company and search the house of Cap
tain Wood of the Confederate army, collect axes, and
capture any enemies lurking thereabouts. The dwelling
was large and full of enemies, though all were females,
the Captain being blessed with ten unmarried daughters.
The searchers were not be envied, followed as they were
from parlor to bedroom, from cellar to garret by beautiful
anathematizing damsels.
Auburn was a water station, but the tank had been
emptied, so the soldiers had to carry water from the creek
to the engine. Lieutenant Hardenbrook, in command of
fifty men, was left to protect the bridge.
When the train had approached within two or three
miles of Russellville, a negro, hearing the rumbling of the
cars, left his plow, mounted his horse and came galloping
to the track. He reported that there were three hundred
cavalry encamped in the edge of the town. A mile farther
on. Companies G, I, and K, under command of Major
Vance, left the cars, and guided by the negro marched
southeastward, much of the way at a double-quick, around
the east side of the town, in order to intercept any troops
attempting to escape.
The train then advanced about a mile, when the remain
ing companies, led by Colonel Harrison, moved in line of
battle directly southward toward the camp, Company A,
under command of Captain Scott, deploying as skirmish
ers. The enemy was taken by surprise. The men were
lying asleep, or sitting in groups about the ground. They
fired a few shots, then rushed for their horses, which were
tied to trees, fences and stakes, and were without saddles

26 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
and bridles, some of the men pulling frantically at the halter
straps, while others jumped upon their animals first and cut
the fastenings with their sabres afterward. Those not suc
cessful in freeing their horses, fled on foot, aided in their
flight by a volley from the approaching skirmishers. The
mounted were more unfortunate than those who escaped
without their horses, for the latter could hide in the houses
of friends, while the former attempted to save themselves
by dashing through the town.
The three detached companies, when they had moved
as far south as necessary, turned to the right, then, sepa
rating, marched on parallel streets toward the village;
Company K on the road forming the extreme southern
limit of the town. All the north and south streets ter
minated in this road, which was bounded by a high fence,
and from which no street emerged southward except one
several blocks to the west. The cavalrymen who ran the
gauntlet and escaped the crossfire of Companies G and I
turned into this road just in fr6nt of Company K, and
never reached the opening to the south.
The Confederate camp was in a beautiful grove, and the
ground was strewn with saddles, bridles, blankets, quilts,
straw bedding, and dry-goods boxes, the latter filled with
bread, butter, fried chicken, roast beef, cakes and pies,
furnished by the disloyal citizens of the town and sur
rounding country. Before sunset the regiment was as
sembled in the center of the town, pickets thrown out, and
houses searched, where negroes reported concealed fugi
tives, W, A, Miller of Company B tells with great vividness
his experience in hunting for a prisoner. He was ordered
just at dusk to enter a warehouse cellar and was by no

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 2^
means enthusiastic, as, with back to what little light there
was, he blindly groped his way among boxes and hogs
heads, his hair fairly standing on end. Suddenly, as his
hand fell on the object of his search, he was startled by a
loud laugh, and the exclamation, "Damn you! I could a
blowed a hole through you just as easy." Charging on a
battery where comrade is in touch with comrade, is not the
only place where courage of a high type is revealed.
Shortly after nightfall the troops started on their return
to Bowling Green, and on the following day attended the
funeral of Howard Hudnut of Company A, who fell at
Russellville. The battalion marched in slow time at pla
toon front, keeping step to the muffied drum, non-com
missioned officers in command, line officers in rear of their
companies and staff officers in rear of the regiment.
Bowling Green, Kentucky, October i, 1862.
Colonel S. D. Bruce, Commanding Provisional Brigade:
Sir — It becomes my duty to submit to you the following
report of the expedition to Russellville, undertaken by your
orders on the thirtieth ultimo.
The forces under my command consisted of my own regi
ment, reduced by double details for camp guard and picket
duty, to five hundred men, Company  , Eighth Kentucky
Cavalry, Captain Morrow (on foot), and Company K, Sixtieth
Indiana, Captain Givens, making together about six hun
dred men. Having loaded the troops upon and inside of
boxcars, we proceeded cautiously down the road, expecting
to find it obstructed. As we approached Auburn Station,
we were hailed by one of the citizens, and informed that the
railroad bridge over Black Lick had been burned the night
previous by a party of guerrillas. Upon examination I found
that a new bridge, some forty feet in length, would have to
be constructed, or the expedition abandoned. Finding upon
consultation with those familiar with such work that the con-

28 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
struction, in the time required, of a new bridge, capable of
passing the train, was not impracticable, I at once deter
mined to accomplish the work, and having sent out two
companies to encircle the village and prevent information
being sent to Russellville of our approach, I detailed large
working parties, and sent out squads to collect axes and
other tools. Captain Fisher of Company I, being an old
railroad builder, was designated by me to superintend the
work, and right well did he justify the choice. In less than
three hours he had felled the trees, put them in their place,
and laid the rail upon the superstructure, so that the train
passed safely over. I cannot too highly commend the skill
and industry of Captain Fisher in so rapidly accomplishing
this work, without which the expedition must have been a
failure. Captain Carson of Company G also rendered valu
able assistance in the work.
While waiting the completion of the bridge, I procured a
diagram of the approaches to Russellville, after a close ex
amination of which a plan of attack was determined upon
in a council of the field officers of my regiment, together
with Captains Givens and Morrow. Having left a guard of
fifty men, under Lieutenant Hardenbrook of Company H, to
protect the bridge until our return, we started on toward
Russellville. When within about two miles of the place, I
saw a negro riding furiously toward us along the side of the
track and immediately ordered the train stopped to get what
information I could of the situation and forces of the enemy.
I learned from him the exact location of the rebel encamp
ment, but could not so definitely learn their number. I here
threw off Companies G, Captain Carson; I, Captain Fisher;
K, Captain Merrill, and Company K, Sixtieth Indiana, Cap
tain Givens, under the command of Major Vance, for the
purpose of entering the town from the south, while we should
attack the rebels from the north of their encampment. I
then ran on to within a mile of the town, where I threw off
the residue of my troops, and turning off to the right of the
railroad, through a cornfield, I deployed Company A, Cap-

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 29
tain Scott, as skirmishers, and advanced cautiously toward
the rebel camp. Coming into an open field, the enemy were
discovered in their camp, when I ordered the skirmishers
to advance and open fire, which they did in fine style, their
fire being but feebly returned by the enemy. I brought the
battalion forward, close upon the skirmishers, but the enemy
retreated so rapidly that we could not come up with them so
as to open fire. Seeing from the dust that a portion of them
were fleeing along the road leading north on the west side
of their encampment, I detached Company H, Captain Cun
ning, to cut off their retreat, which was effected in good order,
a few shots being fired with good effect. Having marched
through the rebel camp, we found the enemy had fled in every
direction and in the utmost confusion, through the cornfields
and into the town, where they were hidden in the houses and
stables. Not having heard from Major Vance's party and
desiring to know whether the town itself was held by the
enemy, I marched my command into the town and occupied
the public square, where I was joined by Major Vance, of
whom I have the following particulars of the part taken by
his command in the fight:
After leaving the cars they made a considerable detour
over a very rough and thickly wooded country in order to
come into the rear of the town and cut off the retreat of the
enemy. As they approached the streets leading to the Nash
ville and Springfield road they caught sight of the fleeing
rebels and were brought forward by the Major on the double
quick, each company taking a separate street, all debouching
into that upon which the rebels were retreating. As the
broken squads of rebel horsemen passed the posts of the re
spective companies they delivered their fire with great steadi
ness and precision, killing and wounding a large number.
After the detachments had been united in the town, I im
mediately detailed Companies C and E and sent Lieutenant
S. L. Crandall of the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, who was
familiar with the country, to post them as pickets, and detailed
squads to search certain houses in which the rebels were re-

30 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ported by the negroes to have taken refuge. I succeeded
in capturing ten prisoners, which number would have been
largely increased, but, night coming on, further search be
came impracticable. After loading the horses and other prop
erty captured from the enemy on the cars, we returned to
Bowling Green.
We captured and brought with us forty-two good horses,
some fifty shotguns and muskets and sixty saddles, besides
a large number of articles, an inventory of which has been
furnished the post quartermaster.
From my own observation and from information received
from other sources I estimate the losses of the enemy at
thirty-five killed and wounded and ten prisoners.
We lost one man killed — Howard Hudnut of Company A,
Seventieth Indiana. He received a shot in the breast, which
was instantly fatal; and fell with his face toward the enemy.
Captain Scott and Lieutenant Ohr of Company A led the
skirmishers forward with great bravery and deserve especial
mention. The company manifested great spirit and steadi
ness. Captain Carson, Company G, Captain Fisher, Company I,
and Captain Merrill, Company K, Seventieth Indiana, and
Captain Givens, Company K, Sixtieth Indiana, acting under
Major Vance, and the officers and men under their command,
behaved gallantly and executed their part of the plan of at
tack with great success. Major Vance deserves great credit
for the skill and promptness with which he brought his de
tachment forward and engaged the enemy.
Lieutenant-Colonel Burgess and Adjutant Jim L. Mitchell
co-operated efficiently with me in maneuvering my command
and were always at the post of duty. Captain Morrow of the
Eighth Kentucky cavalry, having been recently encamped
on the very spot occupied by the enemy, was of great service
to me in directing the line of march and determining
the plan of attack. His company was on the left of my line
and succeeded in getting a few shots as the enemy retreated.
The forces of the enemy consisted of three companies of

IN FRONT: BUELL AND BRAGG IN THE REAR 33
Dortch's regiment and an independent company under Cap
tain Page, amounting altogether to three hundred and fifty
men. Dortch's command had the night before burned the
bridge which we rebuilt. We took the enemy completely
by surprise, the fire of our skirmishers being the first intima
tion they had of our approach.
I should not omit to mention that Lieut. J. W. Wallace,
A. A. A. G., formerly of the Sixteenth Kentucky, and Lieut,
J. Andy Wallace, formerly of Company A, Seventieth Indiana,
of your staff, and Captain Fee, post quartermaster, who ac
companied the expedition as volunteers, displayed great gal
lantry, advancing in the line of my skirmishers. My entire
command, officers and men, manifested the greatest eagerness
to engage in the fight, and had the enemy stood more reso
lutely to give us battle, would, I doubt not, have displayed
a gallantry and bravery in the fight commensurate with their
eagerness to engage in it.
Respectfully submitted,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
Colonel Seventieth Indiana Regiment,
Bowling Green, Kentucky, October i, 1862.
General — Rebels burnt bridge at Black Lick, near Auburn,
Monday night. I sent Seventieth Indiana and part of the
Eighth Kentucky down, rebuilt the bridge, surprised the
enemy at Russellville and routed them completely, killing and
wounding fifty, taking fifteen prisoners and forty horses and
saddles. No enemy in force near here; small parties stealing horses
through the country.
I intend to whip them all out.
S. D. BRUCE,
Colonel Commanding,
General J, T, Boyle,

CHAPTER IV.
TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT"
The day at Russellville had not been quite long enough,
so at two o'clock A. M., October second, the regiment
was called out and set off at four to visit that town again.
Companies H and K picketed the place, while the other
companies loaded the cars with medical stores, shoes, and
whatever else could be of use to the army, and a thing or
two, the usefulness of which, under the circumstances, was
doubtful. Company E brought away a httle printing out
fit, a hand press, type, chases, and other belongings. While
at Bowling Green Wm, Bodenhamer and other typos of
the company published a diminutive paper, devoted mostly
to criticism of commissioned officers.
On the return trip to BowHng Green one of the flat cars
full of soldiers left the rails and went thumping over the
crossties, tumbling the occupants about in a very disagree
able manner. The only method of communication with
the engineer was through his ears, and as those seemed
to be uncommonly dull there was something of a fusillade
before his attention could be attracted.
On October third J. C. Bennett of Company B makes
the following important record: "Made some apple
dumplings, which were fine, and would do to compare
with any that women can make." The statement in an
other diary, October fourth, is: "To-day out of sugar,
and no chance of getting more for eight days." One day
later Bennett and the dumplings would have had a
sour time of it. Nothing could be found to take the place
32

TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT" 33
of sugar, but when candles gave out, gravy, a rag, and a
sardine box made a satisfactory light.
On the same day those fine dumplings were made Com
pany K, with a troop of cavalry, was ordered to take the
cars for Mumfordsville, The train ran to Green river,
where, on account of the destruction of the bridge, all were
obliged to leave the cars, and the infantry to wade the
stream. The men marched over the late battleground, saw
a great many wounded, chased some guerrillas, which even
the cavalry could not overtake, and after entering the
almost deserted village, returned at dark to the south side
of the river.
A Louisville newspaper of September thirtieth, telling
of the death of General Nelson, and giving much other
information, was prized more highly by members of the
regiment, who had been benighted for a month, than the
fifteen thousand pounds of bacon that was captured.
Shortly after nightfall the infantry took the cars for Cave
City, threw out pickets and awaited the return of the scout
ing cavalry. At one A. M, of the fourth the troop came in,
all boarded the cars, reaching Bowling Green at daybreak.
The only amusing incident of the trip was that the Captain
in command rolled off the top of the box-car where he
was trying to sleep, and limped for a week, taking to him
self the credit of being the only man wounded on the expe
dition. On Sunday, the fifth, nobody complained of lack of re
ligious instruction, for three sermons could have been
heard, and company Bible classes were open for attendance,
A sarcastic observer said: "The Devil with chuckaluck,
his profanity, and his liquor drinking, made a big battle
with the good Lord, and many a poor wavering fellow had

34 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
a tough time fighting first on one side and then on the
other." Company G, under command of Captain Carson, on the
tenth of November, took the train as far as Mumfordsville,
then marched to Elizabethtown, the men putting their
knapsacks in the empty wagons they were expecting to
fill with clothing at that village. Although a heavy rain
was falling, the thirty-seven miles were traveled in eleven
hours, the latter half of the journey in the night. After
a breakfast furnished by the citizens the following morn
ing, the wagons were loaded and safely guarded to Bowling
Green. The Captain reported that the only casualties of
the march occurred when a squad made an assault, without
orders, on a liquor saloon.
On October fifteenth five companies of the Seventieth
and five hundred cavalry under command of Colonel
Bruce started on the train for Russellville. It was a very
slow journey, as the track had been badly torn up. The
night was spent in a fine grove, a former Confederate en
campment, just at the edge of the village. In the morn
ing an advance was made about three miles beyond Rus
sellville, and the day was spent under the trees. The
privates felt that they were rewarded for all their disci
plinary hardships, when Colonel Bruce ordered an aide and
a surgeon out of a turnip patch. Why should officers be
permitted to fill themselves with raw turnips when the
men in the ranks had to go empty? Two hours after
dark the troops were loaded on the cars to return inglori-
ously to Bowling Green, without even a turnip to show for
the trip.
At eleven P. M,, Octo.ber nineteenth, the regiment was
called out and marched to the station, where the men stood

TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT" 3;
around till the train started at three o'clock next morning.
Hanging on the top of a box car as it swings around the
curves of a road that has again and again been torn up,
momentarily expecting to be plunged into a ravine by the
omnipresent John Morgan, is exciting enough to satisfy
any lover of adventure. Then, too, if a man is gifted with
a sense of the ludicrous, he can laugh till he weeps at the
amazing display of trouserless legs that have waded Green
River and are climbing its steep banks.
The men fingered around Mumfordsville all day, feast
ing on wild grapes, walnuts and pawpaws, then slept in an
immense appleless orchard. This was on the slope of a
hill, and R. M. Smock of Company G began his slumbers
at the top, but was found the next morning at the bottom
still asleep. "Blessings light on him that first invented
sleep." On the afternoon of the next day the regiment
took the train up the road to Elizabethtown in pursuit
of the railroad destroyer, but as usual found that the bird
had flown after accomplishing his plundering work. By
sundown the return trip to Bowling Green began, and
continued till the morning of the twenty-second.
The arrival of an immense mail of over three thousand
letters, containing the first news from home since Septem
ber eleventh, threw the regiment into an ecstasy of joy;
even the poor fellow who received only one epistle declared
it was better than any Christmas he had ever seen. Then
came friends from the North, bringing dainties for the
palate, letters and encouraging words, but their visits grew
infrequent as time advanced and distance from home in
creased. One of these lady friends wrote home: "All Saturday
and Sunday we sewed hard, putting linings and pockets

36 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
in overcoats, as the boys brought not only their own, but
the coats of all their friends to us. It is delightful to do
anything for them. But it is the funniest thing in the
world to see the poor fellows stand before our big looking
glass. As they have nothing but little bits of pocket mir
rors, which reflect one feature at a time, of course they
have not seen themselves — sunburn, buttons and all —
since they became soldiers. They can hardly tear them
selves away. When, after many a lingering look, they do
get to the front door, they are sure to run back for some
thing they pretend to have forgotten — in reality to take
a parting glance. They haven't a bit of modesty about it,
I think I should die laughing if I wasn't so sorry for them,
I tell them they put me in mind of the young men in the
town of Union at the beginning of the war. Captain
Cramer was the first to volunteer and get a uniform. Of
course he had his picture taken. And what should every
fellow in town do but borrow the captain's suit, run down
to the wagon — the daguerreotype office was a big covered
wagon — and get his likeness. Perhaps it gave them reso
lution to enlist, for they did one and all."
Near midnight, October twenty-third. Companies E, G,
and K stowed themselves away in army wagons, fourteen
in a vehicle, and accompanied by a squadron of cavalry
and a section of artillery, made a rapid movement, under
the command of Major Vance, in an attempt to surprise
the enemy. About an hour before day a deserted camp
was discovered with fires still burning. Here the infantry
left the wagons, took up the double quick, and the whole
command pushed on to Woodbury, where several pris
oners, a number of horses, besides arms and saddles, were
captured. The command hurried toward Morgantown,

TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT" 37
threw a few shells at the enemy's scampering rear guard,
then turned homeward. After supper at Woodbury, given
at the citizens' expense, the men stumbled for four miles
across the country, through a dense forest, halting shortly
before midnight, to be on the march again an hour before
day. The food in the haversacks had given out, so raven
ous appetites were quieted by haws, wild grapes, crab-
apples and persimmons. When on the afternoon of the
twenty-fifth the men reached camp, well prepared to ap
preciate hard tack and bacon, it was amusing to hear them
tell their comrades who had not accompanied them how
superior numbers had been chased, of the hairbreadth
escape of both the enemy and themselves, and of the deli
cious feast at Woodbury.
With this expedition, some say with the Russellville
fray, comes upon the stage an animal, that as a representa
tive of his important branch of the service, perhaps de
serves mention. While he was attending one of the
regimental reunions, the editor of the Martinsville Repub
lican extracted from the grayhaired lads, who were stand
ing around patting the horse, the following facts for his
biography: "Billy was formerly in the ranks of John Mor
gan's celebrated raiders, and was captured at Morgantown,
Kentucky, in October, 1862, by the Seventieth Indiana. He
was bought of the Government by the Chaplain of the regi
ment, and shortly afterwards sold to another officer, with
whom he took part in that memorable and glorious march
to the sea, doing his duty faithfully, and always evincing a
desire to be at the head of the regiment. During the
march to Atlanta all the horses in the brigade died from
starvation except Billy, who was pulled through on a diet
of leaves, and was in quite a reduced state when he par-

3S THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ticipated with Sherman in the capture of that city. Billy
was of a very mischievous disposition, and it was im
possible to tie or confine him in any way except with a
chain and lock, and even then he would sometimes manage
to slip the chain over his head and go cantering about the
camp searching for provender in the haversacks of the
soldiers, his joy culminating when by biting and kicking
the other animals he could make them break loose and
charge among the sleepers in a general stampede. While
at Wauhatchie Valley his owner was annoyed by losing
on Lookout Mountain, miles away from camp, a large
bandanna handkerchief that had been sent to him by a
friend in the North. That night Billy slipped his chain
and roamed at will on the mountain ridge. In the morning
he came tearing into camp, red bandanna in mouth, and
it was only after a tantalizing chase of a host of laughing
pursuers that he was captured and induced to give up his
find. Once during his nocturnal meandering he was mis
taken for a 'Reb' by a nervous picket, who fired at him,
causing a general alarm. Billy was never known to break
a buggy but once, and that was when, viewing a
Democratic procession, a picture of the presidential can
didate was turned suddenly towards him. This was too
much for the old war horse, and he proceeded to demolish
the buggy and leave that vicinity instantly. Billy showed
no attachment to any individual, but he was extremely
fond of the regiment as a body, and very restless when
separated from it. Some weeks after his arrival at Indian
apolis, the war being over, he escaped confinement, and
made a bee line for the South in search of the Seventieth,
When six miles on his march through the country Captain
Carson chanced to meet and halt him," Billy passed his

TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT" 39
last days in leisure and comfort, and died a natural death
at the ripe age of thirty-two. Bowling Green, October 29, 1862.
Colonel Bruce:
Sir — The order imposing upon me the command of an
expedition in search of Morgan in the region of Brownsville
or Woodbury was received at 11:30 Thursday evening, Octo
ber twenty-sixth. By twelve o'clock the column was in mo
tion. Inasmuch as the order left the "point and mode of
attack open to the discretion of the officers," it was unani
mously agreed to direct our march upon Woodbury, as indi
cations of the presence of the enemy there were much stronger
than at Brownsville, and in case of failure there the latter
place might be included in the return route. The command
consisted of the following detachments, moving in the order
they are mentioned: Companies of the Eighth Kentucky
Cavalry under Major Weathersford, two pieces of artillery
under command of Lieutenant Swaner; three companies of
the Seventieth Indiana Infantry under command of Captain
Merrill; one company of the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry;
eight companies of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry under Cap
tain Kurfuss. I was convinced it would be impossible to
reach Woodbury, twenty-two miles distant, in time for a day
light attack, for the artillery and infantry necessarily rendered
the march slow. Every precaution that advanced guards and
videttes could insure was taken to prevent information of
our approach being conveyed ahead. By three o'clock we
had marched ten miles. The videttes here reported suspi
cious fires ahead. The column was halted and Major Weath
ersford was sent forward to investigate. He reported what
he believed to be a rebel camp, indicated by numerous fires
burning brightly. The infantry was instantly ordered for
ward. Scouts and skirmishers were sent out to ascertain the
force and locality ; they returned and reported that the enemy,
apparently in small force, had left after putting out their
fires. I might as well state here that upon our return march

40 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the owner of the ground where they had encamped told me
that a squad of thirty or forty had stopped there for the night
and were notified of our approach by the noise of the artil
lery lumbering over the rocky hills. At eight o'clock A. M,
we stopped to feed the horses four miles from Woodbury.
It was now evident that dispatch alone could insure any suc
cess. The roughness of the road rendered the advance of
the artillery and infantry very slow. I therefore ordered the
cavalry to dash rapidly on to Woodbury, leaving the artillery
and infantry to follow as expeditiously as possible. We con
tinued our advance on the main Morgantown road to within
two miles of Woodbury, where the column took a branch
road to that place to the right. At this time the vidette guard
of three men with Lieutenant Morgan were out of sight
ahead. The guide with them had forgotten the order to take
the branch to the right at this place (the main Woodbury
road leaving the Morgantown road two miles farther ahead)
and had continued upon the main road. The whole column had
not yet entered the branch road, and I had sent an
orderly forward to see if the videttes had, as I suspected,
taken the wrong road, when half a dozen pistol shots were
fired from the Morgantown road to the left and almost abreast
of us. A moment afterward a negro on horseback and carry
ing a basket came galloping through the woods from whence
the firing took place. We halted him and learned that the
videttes had exchanged shots with three rebel cavalrymen
to whom he had just been sent with provisions. (We retained
his horse). In the meantime Lieutenant Morgan had gal
loped back to the forks of the road and found all the column
but four companies of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry had
entered the Woodbury branch. These he detached and took
rapidly along after the videttes. The column then took the
double quick until it reached Woodbury. A few squads of
rebel soldiers loitering upon their horses, twenty or thirty
in number, were taken completely by surprise and laid down
their arms. We here learned that at nine o'clock five hun
dred rebel cavalry had passed through on their way to Mor-

TRYING "TO WHIP THEM ALL OUT" 41
gantown, where it seems Morgan was having a general ren
dezvous. All accounts seemed to place his whole force at
about two thousand at least, with one piece of artillery. There
were besides his own men. Duke's and Gano's regiments and
Breckinridge's battalion. A council of war was held and it
was unanimously decided to proceed to Morgantown with
our six hundred and sixty-nine men as soon as the artillery
and infantry came up. We left at twelve o'clock. Before
leaving I dispatched two men with a guide to inform the
four companies on the Morgantown road that they were to
await further orders at the intersection of that road and a
byroad uniting it with the road from Woodbury to Morgan-
town. After proceeding some distance a courier from these
companies overtook us and informed me that they had fol
lowed the three men who fired on our advance so rapidly as
to reach their camp of about sixty recruits, situated two miles
from Morgantown, before they had made all preparations for
one of their characteristic departures ; that his men discharged
their revolvers with no other known effect than a marked
acceleration of their speed; that several prisoners and horses
had been taken and a quantity of camp equipage and blan
kets. About a mile from Morgantown I detached the re
maining three companies of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry
and sent them across by the above mentioned byroad to join
the four companies on the Morgantown road, with orders
that together they should enter the town upon that side. As
we neared the hill on which the town is situated a troop of
rebel cavalry disappeared through the woods on the hill to
the left of the road. Their unfinished dinner evinced that
they had just left their camp, which lay at the foot of the
hill and on both sides of the road. I ordered the artillery
into position and began shelling the woods where they dis
appeared and the road beyond the hill, while the infantry
and cavalry dashed up the road into town at the same in
stant the Fourth Kentucky entered upon the left. We found
that the rebels had retreated, John Morgan, who had spent
the night before in the place, having received information of

42 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
our approach and left half an hour before with all his force
except those encamped at the foot of the hill. He had taken
the road to Russellville, but the dilapidated state of the cav
alry, for whom this was the eleventh consecutive day of inces
sant travel, rendered further pursuit out of the question. I re
turned to Woodbury, where I had ordered an ample supper for
my whole command to be prepared; after which we marched
four miles toward Bowling Green and encamped for the
night. Captain Waltman, with a company, met us there and
returned with us next day. We reached Bowling Green at
five P. M. on Saturday. We captured forty-five horses and
accoutrements and forty prisoners, of whom twenty-five were
Morgan's men with arms and equipments. Of the behavior
of the command, for which the order held me responsible, I
will only say that with a few individual exceptions, it was
unexceptionable ; the cavalry and artillery troops, hungry and
exhausted at the start, displayed an alacrity and obedience
and an enthusiasm in the pursuit that was highly commend
able. Major Weathersford, every inch a gentleman and a sol
dier, rendered me valuable advice in our consultations and aid
in the execution of our plans. Lieutenant Morgan deserves
especial mention for his active efficiency as my aid.
I have the honor to be very respectfully yours,
SAMUEL C. VANCE,
Major Seventieth Indiana Volunteers.

CHAPTER V.
NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES
The Seventieth Regiment was now assigned to Gen.
W. T. Ward's Brigade, and to the Twelfth Division, under
command of Gen. E. Dumont. Before bidding goodbye
to Bowling Green four hundred men of the regiment took
the train and started in the direction of Russellville. A
disloyal engineer had succeeded in running off one of the
finest locomotives belonging to the L. & N. R. R., and
now that its services were so badly needed, its loss was
seriously felt. The stolen engine ran fourteen miles, when
the water gave out, and its boiler was injured by the fire;
then it was deserted by its purloiner. The all-night trip
through the frosty air made all admit, before the engine
was recaptured and returned, that one iron horse thief
could do much damage and produce much discomfort.
An order was received from General Rosecrans detailing
two men from each company to join the force that was
to constitute the Pioneer Corps. The following letter
shows how valuable this organization became:
Los Angeles, California, September 24th, 1894.
Ebenezer Harbert, Esq., Whiteland, Johnson County, Ind.:
Dear Sir — In reply to your favor of August 25th in regard
to the services of the Pioneer Corps of our Army of the Cum
berland, I beg to state that no branch of the service was more
necessary or did more efficient or faithful work. When I ar
rived to take charge of the army I found it had no pioneer
corps, no sappers, miners, or pontooniers, no bridge train, so
indispensable to the efficient work of an army, in the midst of
a country interspersed with rivers and mountains. Although
43

44 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the regiments were much depleted from the full complement
of men, I found it necessary to draw from them for a force
to constitute the "Pioneer Corps," and detailed two men from
each company of infantry accordingly.
To show how proficient and skilled in its work this or
ganization became, and how necessary to the army the
Pioneer Corps was, I will say this force, later on, constructed
at Caperton's Ferry across the Tennessee River a pontoon
bridge at the rate of five feet a minute, completing between 7
A. M. and 1 1 A. M. a bridge of twelve hundred and fifty-four
feet in length.
These men deserve the highest commendation, as they were
detailed on special duty and were under the disadvantage of
being separated from their original commands, and were thus
prevented from keeping up official records, and were cut off
from the pathway of promotion.
Regarding the incident of the gun trial in the bed of Stone
River, in which you participated, I remember the affair well,
as it was the first official trial of the celebrated "Catling Gun,"
which was afterwards improved and came to be so effective a
weapon. With fraternal regards and wishes for your welfare,,
I remain. Yours very truly,
W. S. ROSECRANS.
On the afternoon of November tenth General
Dumont's command moved out eight miles and encamped
on Drake's Creek, continuing the march next day and
reaching a permanent encampment at Scottsville on the
twelfth. While remaining in this town the troops were
aroused every morning before the first streak of day by the
roar of a cannon, and stood in line of battle till sunrise.
The people in the neighborhood of Scottsville were
typical poor whites, ignorant and credulous. Some of the
soldiers took advantage of these characteristics, and claim
ing that everything was fair in war, used the little cards
attached to the clothing, on which were the tailors' size

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 45
numbers, as currency, in trading for chickens and sweet
potatoes. Even canceled postage stamps became valuable in
unscrupulous hands, and were exchanged for eggs and
cornmeal. Some of the citizens of this hilly region, in
spite of their credulity, were so suspicious that they insisted
on having new postage stamps marked before receiving
them. When a soldier was pining for fresh vegetables, and
had nothing but virgin stamps to trade, he had to be some
thing of a moral philosopher to refuse to deal with people
who insisted upon being swindled.
Unfortunately two or three men in the regiment, with
little temptation, acted on the belief that "wit and wis
dom born with a man," were to be used in getting the
better of their fellows. "All is fair in war" covered a multi
tude of peccadillos. One such, at a later date, meeting a
citizen near Nashville, asked the time of day. When the
watch was taken out he exclaimed with an air of surprise :
"That is mine!" "No," said the stranger, "I paid the
jeweler sixty dollars for it." "That may be, but it was
stolen from me, and my name, M. T. Tobias, is engraved
within the case." Sure enough the name was there, and
the watch was delivered to the claimant, for the owner was
not shrewd enough to guess that the inscription was the
name of the manufacturer.
Later still, in North Carolina, a simple-minded couple
were induced to put their trust in and confide their posses
sions to a make-believe relative, only to find their confi
dence betrayed. If "it must be that such offenses come,"
one could wish that a comrade were not implicated, and
that other comrades would not laugh at transactions that
had more treachery than fun in them.
A rather peculiar desertion occurred in Scottsville. A

46 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
strolling, half-witted preacher had been encouraged by his
parishioners to enlist, and seemed brightened for a time
by patriotism or discipline or the semi-roving life of the
soldier, but his greed was such that he could not pass a
shirt or trousers thrown away in the fatigue of the march;
and as he always donned these acquisitions, never taking
them off to wash, his presence became offensive. When
one night, clad in nine shirts and five pairs of pantaloons,
and, as many averred, a sheet-iron coat of mail, he rushed
by the sentinel shouting, "John Derusha Hopkins will not
halt," everybody commended the guard for not shooting.
On the twenty-fifth of November the division moved
from Scottsville southward. A number of wagons had
been pressed into the service by the inspector-general on
General Dumont's staff, and many of the men who were
not well rode from time to time, and many also quite im
prudently relieved themselves of their knapsacks. As some
of the wagons did not keep up with the advance troops,
there was shivering on the hillside the first night.
The following day, the line separating Kentucky from
Tennessee, marked by a large stone, was crossed. The
Chaplain mounted this landmark and proposed three
cheers, which swelled into bursts of shouting as the men
approached the stone and discovered for what they were
yelHng. The band struck up Dixie, and there was rejoic
ing, as if new territory had been gained. The slightest
ripple on the monotonous current of drill and guard and
march was welcome to the boys. They were highly
amused when a rabbit suddenly jumped from the brush
into the road, at seeing General Dumont put spurs to his
horse and pursue the fleet creature till it disappeared in a
culvert. The general was on foot in a twinkling at the

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 47
entrance, and the frightened animal sprang from the other
end of the culvert into the hands of Captain Braden, the
chief of staff.
The regiment reached Gallatin on the evening of the
twenty-sixth, and the Seventieth encamped immediately
adjoining General Dumont's headquarters. The general,
observing the difficulty the men had in going over the great
distances necessary to obtain wood, made the remark that
he thought the situation would justify them in taking the
top rail of a near fence. The bottom rail was soon the top
one, and everybody was well supplied with fuel.
Snow fell a few days after the troops arrived, and many
schemes were devised to make the tents comfortable.
Two sergeants from IndianapoHs entered an engine house,
took the brass dome off a locomotive, hung it on a rail, and
started to camp, expecting to use it as a stove. They
were arrested by a guard and marched threatening, swear
ing, protesting and pleading every step of the way to Gen
eral Thomas' headquarters. The language of the General
was anything but mild as he asked them, among other
questions, what kind of material they thought they were
made of that they needed a five hundred dollar stove to
warm themselves with? The guard was ordered to make
them return the "stove" to the engine that would have
been ruined without it. There was little pleasure to these
non-commissioned officers in carrying the heavy thing a
mile, but the spectacle afforded unbounded delight to the
privates, who cheered them on their line of march.
The regiment was put to work on a fortification under
the superintendence of the chief of engineers on General
Rosecrans' staff, who kept the spades going by night as
well as by day. Captain Meredith writes: "It was fun

48 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
to see the Company E boys, many of whom had been
printers' devils, but few of whom had ever handled a pick
or shovel before, pitch into that work. Frank Myers, a
German, and Joe Landormie, a Frenchman, gifted mimics,
began jabbering an imitation of Irish laborers, and soon
the whole gang was making the air green with the sweet
brogue of Erin. The regular army officer in charge of
the work congratulated himself on his good fortune in
getting hold of so many Irishmen, and when the company
was relieved actually complimented the men on the amount
of work accomplished."
Shoveling around the fort cut short somewhat the hours
of drill, but this was not the only interference. J. H. Kelly,
of Company I, tells of a pugnacious billy-goat that roamed
over the common, picking up any food dropped by the
boys, and then lunching on a canteen. He was ready to
fight on the smallest provocation, and gave the officers
not a little trouble when they were moving backwards in
front of their companies, for he seemed to know that even
the bravest could not stand an attack in the rear. When
he grew weary of tormenting the Captain, he would fall
behind the company, there to have his wrath aroused again
by some mischievous soldier in the rear rank challenging
him with the shake of a coat tail. There was always a
charge, and as often a rout.
A letter from J. M. Brown, Gallatin, December third,
states : "We are living on cornbread now. We press corn
and take it to a mill about a mile from camp and swap it for
meal. Then we make hoe cakes and all such good things."
One of the privates tells a shocking story of the way
his Captain was made to "look sick." When a man was
caught in some misconduct, the Captain's stereotyped com-

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 4c
mand to the sergeant, made in a deep guttural tone, was,
"Put him on extra duty." One night at roll call the Ser
geant was running down the list in a perfunctory way, and
repeated a name three times without receiving a response.
The Captain, who was standing by, growled, "Put him on
extra duty," when a voice from the ranks that made the
air chilly cried, "O Lord, Captain, he's been dead and
buried two weeks."
Under the light of subsequent events a quotation from
a letter of Captain Meredith reads curiously: "The way
the Copperheads have been acting at home caused a mass
meeting of indignant soldiers, over which General Paine,
our post commander, presided. There were good speak
ers. General Dumont among the rest, and there was great
enthusiasm. Our Colonel, Ben. Harrison, was the junior
officer on the platform, and his speech did not come until
the others were through. Right away he riveted the at
tention of that mass of men, held it undivided for about
an hour, and was cheered vociferously when he closed.
General Paine slapped me on the back and exclaimed, 'By
George, Captain, that Colonel of yours will be President of
the United States some day.' "
On December twelfth the regiment broke camp and
moved down the Nashville road to engage in the work of
guarding railroad bridges. Companies A, B, C and D
were located at Drake's Creek; E and F at Edgefield; G
and H at Saundersville, I and K at Pilot Knob. The men
at the latter place, when not drilling and off duty, amused
themselves by running foot races and snowballing. The
companies were pitted against one another during a snow
storm, and when the contest took on the form of deciding
which was the strongest, by capturing the chiefs, the cap-

50 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
tains found themselves in rags at the conclusion of the
struggle. Again a quotation from J. M. Brown: "December
twenty-fourth, ten miles below Gallatin. You say you
killed hogs last week. Well, we kill hogs every day or two.
Jim and Lou and I are washing to-day and making hom
iny. We are fixing for Christmas." Letters not only give
a view of army life, but glimpses too of home affairs. The
same lad thus teases his sisters: "I expect you see a great
old time of a Sunday night? Do you spark in the parlor
at our house, or do they come home with you from meet
ing and then go home without coming in?" Then a
thought seems to strike him that arouses his patriotic in
dignation: "I think if a man is big enough to go with the
girls he is big enough to go into the army."
As the old year was dying and the new year was ap
proaching with melancholy tread, and while the men of
our regiment were watching the connections with the
North of General Rosecrans' struggling army, the deep
law boom of artillery at Stone River, forty miles away,
could be heard; and inexpressible anxiety was felt for the
result of the battle.
For some reason Quartermaster AlHson, though he
made every possible effort, was for a long time unable to
get clothing for the regiment, and many of the men were
absolutely in tatters. At last about a dozen pairs of
trousers for each company was received. The distribution
to each of their commands, as the captains described it,
was very amusing, but that of Company E, as being more
characteristic, is best entitled to a place in history. The
Captain of this company reported: "In order to deter
mine who needed the pantaloons the worst the company

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 51
was mustered in one line for inspection. The front view
was bad enough, but when the command about face was
given the aspect was fearful. The rascals had received a
hint of the o'bject of the muster, and had made prepara
tions accordingly. They were all so ragged that it was
decided to determine by lot who should take the trousers;
and the disappointed ones were busy the rest of the day
sewing up the rents they had made."
The same officer continues in a more serious mood:
"While we were at Edgefield Junction Sergeant Wm.
Griggs died. He was a fine soldier, a noble young man,
and greatly beloved by all his comrades. A messenger was
sent to headquarters with the request that the Chaplain
come and conduct the funeral services, but we were in
formed that he had gone to Indianapolis on 'leave.' Then
we concluded to bury our dead comrade with such services
as we could improvise. The Captain read a chapter from
the Bible, spoke a few words, and others made remarks.
An appropriate hymn was sung, and we were about to
lower the coffin into the grave, when one of the soldiers,
looking up, saw our Colonel riding over the hill behind us.
He had come down to supply the place of the Chaplain.
He dismounted, uncovered, walked to the edge of the
grave, extended his hands over the coffin, and offered one
of the most feeling and eloquent prayers to which we had
ever listened. Then the remains were lowered into the
grave, the earth thrown in, the salute fired, and the sad
rite was finished. It was a touching scene, the funeral of
that soldier on the hillside in Tennessee, away from his
young wife, his parents, and his many dear friends at
home." On February twelfth, 1863, the Seventieth returned to

52 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Gallatin, leaving, however, small detachments from E, F,
G, H and K to continue guarding the bridges, under com
mand of Major Vance, until his resignation was received,
and afterwards under command of Captain Carson. In
structions were given to these efficient officers by General
Paine to have the property holders whose land adjoined
the railroad cut and haul to the track sufficient quan
tities of wood for the use of the locomotives, and also to
arrest all citizens who had failed to obey the order, issued
some time before, requiring them to take the oath of al
legiance and receive protection papers.
Permission was granted to capture twenty horses,
bridles and saddles from the disloyal for the purpose of
mounting scouts to scour the neighboring region, suppress
guerrillas, apprehend furloughed Confederate soldiers who
were visiting their homes, and to thwart the schemes of
those who were planning destruction to the railroad.
Negroes furnished invaluable assistance by coming with
information at night. Many a Southern officer, had he
known all, would have attributed his removal from his bed
about midnight to stripes he had in years gone by laid on
the backs of his slaves.
An attempt in March to wreck a passenger train was
frustrated by the vigilance of Lieutenant Carey. Rails
had been piled on the track, where a culvert made it easy
to wedge them till they became a formidable obstacle.
Three sisters lived nearby, and as their shoes exactly fitted
the tracks leading from their house to and around the
rail piles, they were arrested, taken to Gallatin and impris
oned. General Paine felt sure they had designed murder;
yet as all the evidence was circumstantial, and perhaps

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 53
because the guilty parties were women, they were admon
ished and released.
A detachment from Companies G and H, under com
mand of Lieutenants Hardenbrook and Record, crossed
the Cumberland River in search of horses. After march
ing a mile or two on a road winding through the woods
they encountered and arrested Captain Duncan, who had
the reputation of being a desperado. Benjamin Ransdell
was left behind to guard the prisoner, while the others con
tinued their journey. After the detachment had passed
on, an armed Confederate soldier, who had been concealed
in a neighboring, farm house, escaped, and evidently not
having observed the guard with his captive, ran down the
road toward them. This diverted Ransdell's attention.
While he was getting his gun ready for the approaching
enemy, his prisoner, knocking him down with a stone,
threw himself upon him. There was a furious struggle, in
which the men, mad with rage and fear, fell and rose three
times. The last time of rising the Confederate drew a
dirk from his boot, while the Union man, gaining semi-
possession of his rifle, fired and wounded his enemy in the
wrist. The crippled man rushed to his horse and mounted,
only to be felled to the ground by a blow from Ransdell's
musket. The prisoner then ran, while his adversary was
hastily loading his rifle. There was deliberate aim, but the
weapon had been bent in the conflict and failed to carry
the bullet to the mark. The man from the house did not
stay to see the conclusion of the duel, but disappeared in
the woods, and the panting Ransdell was left alone with
his crooked gun.
Meanwhile the scouting party, having captured several
horses, learned that seventy-five armed Confederates were

54 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
nearby, and started on a hurried return. However, Lieu
tenant Record, feeling that one more prize was desirable,
stopped at a house and bridled a fine pacing mare. A
stout lady and her stouter daughter seized the bridle,
braced themselves on each side of the animal's head, and
bade defiance to the officer. The Lieutenant, disdaining to
struggle with women, leaped on the steed, loosed the
throat latch, slipped out the bit, vigorously used his spurs,
and paced rapidly away, calling out to the astonished
women, who held the bridle, "This is a Yankee trick."
While the detachments under the command of Major
Vance and Captain Carson were engaged in their impor
tant duties in the region immediately north of Nashville,
the main body of the regiment was encamped at Gallatin,
employed in work similar to that in which it had been
occupied at Bowling Green. Drilling was incessant, and
no one could escape unless he was out on picket or his
company was off on an expedition. Perfection in outpost
duty was not attained by some of the soldiers without
great difficulty. John Maloney, an Irishman of Company
K, when detailed for this kind of service never could recol
lect the countersign if it were a word he had not before
heard. One evening the officer of the day gave the coun
tersign, Solferino, to Sergeant Secrest, who in turn was
to communicate it to the men on the portion of the line
of which he had charge. When he came to Maloney he
said: "Now, Johnnie, I don't want to have any trouble
with you stopping the grand rounds to-night, so you must
get the countersign right end foremost in your head, and
don't you forget it." Then in a low voice, "It's Solferino,
Solferino, Solferino. Have you got it now, Johnnie?" "No,
Sairgint ; say it agin." So it was repeated over and over.

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 55
"Yis, Sairgint; I've got it now, and it's the bist countersign
we iver had." "Tell it to me so I can be sure you know
it," demanded Secrest. "Sock it to 'em," growled
Maloney. The first of March the regiment went from Gallatin to
Goose Creek, beyond Hartsville, into a region where
trouble seemed always breeding. The people were dis
posed to give encouragement to the enemy, who crossed
the river for supplies or for information, and an occasional
visit of Union troops became a necessity. By way of pay
ment for the long march, ninety-eight barrels of flour,
designed for the men in gray, were removed to Gallatin.
J. C. Bennett's diary gives the information that "six
companies of infantry, one of cavalry and sixty scouts,
under command of Colonel Harrison, started at eight
A. M., March eighteenth, bound for Carthage. We had
in our charge sixty head of cattle and seventy wagons.
Passing through Hartsville we bivouacked at Dickson's
Springs after forming the wagons into a circle of defense.
The next day the cavalry drove the cattle on to Carthage,
but the rest of us, dividing into parties, took different
directions, and while most of the wagons were loaded with
corn, hay and oats, some were taken to the mill and loaded
with barrels of flour. We spent the night at Hartsville,
and started the following morning for camp through the
rain and mud."
Henry Farley of Company B says: "I took part in a
scouting expedition under command of Lieutenant
Record. Just at daybreak we captured two men at a dance
and three in a blackberry patch. I was left with some
others to guard these prisoners, but hearing some firing
and thinking there were plenty to take care of the pris-

56 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
oners, I mounted my horse and hurried in the direction
of the shooting. Presently I saw a Johnny coming out
of a lane with Templeton Smith, of our company, after
him. At sight of me the Johnny changed his course of
flight, but his horse slipped and fell and Smith took him
captive. It was a game of bluff on Smith's part, for he
chased him with an empty gun. The Johnny had done
pretty well though, for he had put one bullet in Lieutenant
Record's hand and one in his thigh. The Lieutenant's
blood was up now, and he said, 'Boys, I'm told there were
fifteen men at that dance, and we must have some more
of them.' So we started again, but I got separated from
the rest and came out on the Nashville pike. I struck a
blacksmith's shop and saw a man dressed in gray lying
inside, a couple of pistols in his belt. I crept to the back
door of the shop, presented arms with the words, 'Hold
up your hands or die.' While I was unbuckHng his pistols
the blacksmith said, 'No one man could capture him while
he had two guns.' This gentleman had the pleasure of look
ing into the muzzle of one of the captured guns, and when
ordered to march out on the pike with his comrade made no
resistance. On recrossing the Cumberland we took with us
thirteen prisoners and left two to be buried by their
friends." Sunday morning, April twenty-sixth, the men leaped
into wagons and lumbered away at a fast mule trot toward
this same troublesome district. The following extract
from an officer's letter throws some light on the expedi
tion: "About daybreak General Paine told me to detach
four wagons and follow him on a side road, while the rest
of the train, twenty-six wagons, went on to Hartsville.
We pulled up at a grass widow's house, husband in the

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 57
Confederate army, took breakfast and loaded our teams with
corn, leaving her just enough to keep the wolf from her
door. I was then sent back to station guards around Mr.
Smith's house, and to allow nO' one to escape until the Gen
eral's return. There we remained cooping up a household
of chattering females until two o'clock, while the General
went on and told the citizens of Hartsville that on his
next visit their town would be burned and every soul
driven south if they suffered any more rebels to cross the
river. "The windows and doors of every other house through
out the entire region are nailed fast, and the women have
united their families in the occupied dwellings, so that the
sentimental soldier has scarcely ceased moraHzing over a
deserted home before he beholds a house with nine gaunt
women in the doorway and countless hordes of youngsters
at the broken windows. An old man (a few octogenarians
are left) asked me where General Paine was from, when his
pretty niece flashed out, 'From the devil, uncle; what
makes you ask such a question?' Whether General Paine
was from the devil or not, he certainly was a merciful man,
according to the Scripture definition, for he always came
back with plenty of forage for the animals."
J. C. Bennett: "On the eighth of May five companies
of the regiment hurried to the Cumberland River to cap
ture or drive away guerrillas who had fired upon a loaded
steamboat on its way to Carthage. A snag had sunk the
vessel, and Companies I and K were detached to afford
protection while unloading was in progress, and the other
three were thrown out as skirmishers to advance on the
south side of the river and capture bushwackers. Only
four prisoners were caught in the net. From the fifteenth

58 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
to the twenty-second of May Company B had charge of
Bulls' Branch ferry. The people paid us for crossing the
river, and we made thirty dollars in two days, which was
put into our fund to purchase things for the use of the
company. Several families of refugees crossed at our ferry
from whom we took nothing, for we thought they would
need all the money they had. They said they were trying
to get into the United States, and when we told them
they were safe their faces lighted up as if a heavy load had
been rolled from their shoulders."
On the twenty-third of May four companies of the
Seventieth Indiana, two of the One Hundred and Second
Illinois, and a section of artillery. Colonel Harrison com
manding, crossed the Cumberland on a foraging expedi
tion, and returned on the evening of the twenty-sixth.
An officer tells the following story: "One day I was
sitting in front of my tent, when a man not overly clean,
but not quite so dirty as John D. Hopkins, came up from
his company quarters and said 'that he could do something
I could neither do nor try to do.' Just then the Adjutant
approached, and I said, 'Here is a man who. says he can do
a thing you can neither do nor try to do,' 'Well,' spoke
up the Adjutant in that wonderful rich voice of his, 'I would
like to see a man do what I can't try to do.' The man
asked him to take a seat on a chair and then popped
quickly into his lap. Of all the foolish looking men in
the world the Adjutant took the palm, as the onlookers
cried out, 'Try to sit in your own lap. Adj.' He couldn't
do it. He didn't even try."
The Adjutant is responsible for the following: "There
were a lot of us sitting around Colonel Harrison one night
listening to him, for he is a beautiful talker. He was tell-

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 59
ing of a magnificent lady singer, and as he recalled her
thrilling voice, he was swept away and burst out with an
imitation. The contrast between his wonderful descrip
tion and the music as he gave it was so amazing that in
a moment every seat was vacant."
Our regiment bade a final farewell to Gallatin on the
first day of June, boarding a train that took it through
Nashville to Lavergne, fifteen miles southeast on the
Chattanooga railroad. It occupied quarters just vacated
by the Tenth Kentucky. Company C, with a company
from the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois, was stationed
on Signal hill, two miles away, where Captain Ragan, who
was in command and who was punctilious in all military
observances, held dress parade at the close of each day.
While we were in Lavergne the paymaster made his
appearance. His funds were gratefully received, and a
portion as usual devoted to immediate consumption. The
rustic soldier's favorite article of food was pie. At home
he was glad to have pie for breakfast and supper, as well
as for dinner. On pay day he was sure to regale himself
with pie, though sometimes disappointed in the quantity
and quality. J. M. Brown writes to his sister on pay day:
"I have just bought a pie. I tell you they are great pies
sure. There is about as much apples in one as I could eat
at one mouthful."
Wm. Wilhite of Company D says: "On June twenty-
ninth, just after midnight, we were aroused to go on a
tramp up the N. & C. R. R., and marched the remainder
of the night through a drenching rain. Some of the boys
lost their shoes in the mudholes. We arrived about day-
Hght at a place called Antioch, where we remained till
noon, and then returned to camp, worn out."

6o THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
On June thirtieth the regiment marched under the
broiling sun and encamped on the Murfreesboro battle
field in a pouring rain. Here in a few days came news of
the Gettysburg victory and the capture of Vicksburg.
Nothing, not even a pie, is so dear to the heart of the
American soldier as a speech, and on this day of rejoicing
Colonel Harrison and officers of other regiments in the
brigade complied with solicitations and made speeches that
refreshed and exhilarated the souls of their audience.
The weather was exceedingly hot, the food very objec
tionable, and many of the men succumbed to sickness. J.
E. Cleland writes: "Our side meat is very active and able
to travel, so we drive it down to quarters on foot from
the commissary's. Dr. Reagan has just issued forty rounds
of quinine pills to each man and three days' rations of
Dover's powders for each haversack."
August sixth, Jerry Barker of Company E, Colonel Har
rison's orderly, who had been captured a month before,
returned, having escaped by bribing his guard. He re
ported that he killed one of the men who captured him;
that his captors took everything he had, even the ring from
his finger; that his saddle was sold for one hundred and
fifty dollars and his horse for eight hundred dollars; and
that he was incarcerated with a hundred others in a single
room, from which no one was allowed to go for any pur
pose, and where the odors were indescribable. A Lieu
tenant made the man who took his lady love's ring return
it, and this was sacrificed by Barker to bribe the sentinel
to let him escape.
August nineteenth, the regiment having been assigned
to the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Reserve
Corps, marched back to Nashville, arriving on the follow-

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 6l
ing day. Here, in addition to the ordinary duties of drill
and picket, was added the unpleasant and dangerous work
of guarding trains to Stevenson and Chattanooga. J. E.
Cleland: "We take frequent excursions at reduced rates
over the Chattanooga railroad, occupying the upper berth
on the outside to keep the brakemen from getting
lonely." Gettysburg and Vicksburg had given hope that the war
would soon come to an end. But it went on and on, and
hope died away. An officer writes to his wife, September
sixth: "I want to see the babies more than I can tell. One
of the hardest things a soldier has to bear is the thought
that his children are growing up without knowing any
thing of him."
The negroes who attached themselves to the regiment
were very anxious to learn, but when McGuffey's Spellers
were given them could not believe they could "larn to
read in them thar kind of books." Their happiness and
diHgence were indescribable when a new supply was or
dered, and they received the blue back Webster's Ele
mentary Speller they had seen their young masters
formerly use. One old fellow, after vainly wrestling with
the alphabet for months, sold his book to a younger man
for five dollars. As the speller had cost him nothing, his
disappointment was attended with at least one consohng
feature, that though not a man of learning, he certainly
was a man of business.
Ben, the doctor's servant, when paid his month's wages,
said he was going to have his "picter pulled," and asked
"if it hurt as bad to have a picter puHed as to have a
tooth puUed." He had probably heard of pictures and
teeth being drawn. The doctor, who was in favor of en-

62 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
couraging art, thought "not quite." Some of the colored
cooks were powerful preachers, and certainly seemed to
storm Heaven with their prayers. One always concluded
his petitions with, "Hand us down to our watery graves in
peace." J. C. Bennett: "While we were at Nashville among the
recruits who came to us was Edward Dill. When he drew
his first rations he received of course a piece of bacon, and
came to his quarters in disgust, declaring that he could
not eat such fat stuff. Bob Angleton inquired in an in
nocent way, 'Why didn't you tell the orderly to give you
ham instead of that?' Then added in a confidential man
ner, 'I'll tell you what to do. Take it to Colonel Harrison
and he will give you ham pound for pound.' Off went Dill
and walked into the tent without either knocking or salut
ing. The Colonel looked at him in astonishment and said,
'What do you want?' Holding up the greasy chunk he
told his errand. 'Who sent you to me?' asked the Colonel.
'Bob Angleton,' was the reply. The officer of the guard
was caUed. Ed and Bob had a guard house experience,
and the latter in addition was given ample time to enjoy
his joke while doing 'extra duty.' Angleton, however,
had better luck with his next jest. Another recruit, John
Peak, taking his first meal, bean soup was the dinner that
day, seeing the radicles floating on the savory dish, asked
Bob, 'What are these?' Angleton replied, 'Oh, nothing
but skippers the quartermaster saves from old bacon to
season our broth. They give it a splendid taste.' This
first view of soldier fare was too much for John, and he
left the dinner to be devoured by his messmates."
On November thirteenth an incident occurred which in
terested and amused every person in the regiment. Lieu-

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 63
tenant-Colonel Burgess was a man with very charming
manners. It was not in his composition to say no. Sel
dom left in charge of the regiment, as Colonel Harrison
had not yet taken permanent command of the brigade,
responsibility for discipline did not weigh heavily upon
him. He never had to punish anybody, as the unenviable
duties of provost marshal had been assigned to the Major.
When a man applied for a pass the Lieutenant-Colonel's
first thought was, "Poor devil, let him have a little fun, for
he will see grief enough before he gets out of this scuffie."
It was quite possible for one who was far better off in
camp than out to take advantage of such lenity, secure a
pass to the city, obtain a drop too much, enjoy a fight or
two with the provost guards, return to camp under arrest,
enter the guard house, and while in durance vile have his
picket duties performed by his better behaved comrades.
Of course the indulgent Colonel was the most popular man
in the regiment.
The following paragraph is taken from the diary of U.
H. Farr: "Colonel Jim Burgess was always easy on the
men, while Colonel Ben. Harrison was quite strict. Some
private conceived the idea of complimenting Burgess and
at the same time scoring one against Harrison by making
a present to the former of a handsome sword. So a sub
scription was started among the non-commissioned officers
and privates. Everybody understood the twofold purpose
of the present. A sword was purchased for one hundred
and seventy-five dollars, a big box was placed between the
field and line officers' tents, and everybody gathered in
a mass meeting. Sergeant John E. Cleland, a fine scholar
and good speaker, mounted the box and made the pre
sentation speech. Burgess could not make a speech and

64 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
was embarrassed. The regiment was hungry for a speech
and would not be disappointed; so the cry went up, 'Har
rison, Harrison.' "
Colonel Harrison, who was reading in his tent, feeling
perhaps that his presence might throw a coldness over the
audience, immediately appeared, stepped upon the box,
commended every excellence it was possible to discover
in the character of Colonel Burgess, and concluded with a
thrilling appeal, which was received with deafening cheers,
to every man to offer himself anew with undying devotion
to the service of his country. Shortly after this incident
Colonel Burgess returned to IndianapoHs and took com
mand of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana.
A. J. Johnson, Company I, writes: "General Grant
reached Nashville in November on his way to the front,
having taken command of the Army of the Cumberland.
An escort of thirty men was detailed from our regiment,
of which I was one. We noticed that the General, although
quite lame, walked to the station, while his staff rode in
carriages. After arriving in Chattanooga the General told
his orderly to take a box of his cigars and pass them
around. Several of the boys smoked for the first and last
time, simply because they were General Grant's cigars."
About this time the Government undertook the organi
zation of negroes into regiments officered by white men,
and quite a number of the members of the Seventieth, pre
senting themselves to the Board of Examination, were
deemed worthy of holding highly important positions.
There was a division of opinion, however, among the sol
diers. Some were so loyal to the regiment as to exclaim,
"We would rather be corporals in the Seventieth than
commissioned officers elsewhere. To us there is more

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 65
pleasure, usefulness and honor where we are, among friends
and with a company raised at and standing for home, than
in any position to be reached by leaving the boys with
whom we enlisted." It is a great satisfaction to know that
a Lieutenant who had received his entire military education
_ in the Seventieth had the honor, as commander of a
brigade, of ordering around Colonel Shafter, afterwards
Major-General Shafter, the hero of Santiago de Cuba.
What a pleasure would this privilege not have been to a
certain newspaper reporter!
The following letter from Lieutenant Grubbs will give
an idea of how pleasantly Christmas eve was spent at
Nashville: "Dress parade was over and all retired to their
quarters. Here, there, and all over the regiment you could
see the boys gathering in knots and busily engaged in dis
cussing some apparently important project. The crowd
gradually increased, and the talk grew more animated,
until company streets became full. It was easy to see that
something was meditated, and yet that the boys were
hesitating somewhat. The officers noticed that something
unusual was up, but could not imagine what it was. I had
gone to supper at Captain Fisher's, and we were quietly
eating, when we heard a wonderful yeHing up on the right.
'Company E is at something,' says Captain Fisher, and a
look convinced us of the truth of the remark. Coming
down the street was a noisy crowd of perhaps thirty men,
and elevated over their heads was Captain Meredith. They
rushed him to the sutler and demanded a treat. Of course
he complied, and soon every man was puffing away at a
cigar. Another crowd now came rushing down amid
shouts and laughter, and this time it was Company G, and
on their shoulders they bore Captain Carson, one of the

66 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
steadiest old men in the regiment. The Captain seemed a
little perplexed, but took it ah good humoredly. Officers
stood around laughing uproariously at the unlucky wights
whom the boys had seized, and not until ominous crowds
had gathered around them and rough hands were laid
upon them did they reaHze that their time had come. I
had just stepped out of the tent, and was watching Com
pany C hurrying their Captain, a spruce old widower, up to
the sutler's, and was laughing at his vigorous struggles to
get away, when I heard a shout, 'There he is, there he is,'
and turning around I saw Company F coming toward me
on the run. I started to run, too, but was caught, mounted
upon a dozen shoulders, and taken double quick to the
sutler's. I called for a box of cigars, handed them to the
boys, and was free. Then I could laugh at the others.
Not an officer escaped. Even Captain Fisher was taken
from the table and subjected to the same ordeal. Colonel
Harrison and Major Merrill were each with their wives
out of camp. But the boys were not to be disappointed.
They found a Government wagon, fifty strong arms seized
hold of it, and away they went after them. They drew
the wagon up in front of the house where the Colonel and
Major were boarding ; half a dozen waited on and informed
them of their business. Only giving them time to get
their hats, they bore them to the wagon and started with
headlong speed for the camp. There the regiment joined
the wagon pullers, and a long, loud shout went up from
five hundred voices. After the treat a speech was called
for, and the Colonel made us one of his happiest little
speeches. Then with three times three cheers the crowd
dispersed and that part of the performance was over. As
the beautiful moonlight evening came on, crowds began

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 6;
to gather in the broad street, violins were brought forth,
sets were formed, and the awkward but entertaining dance
of the soldier began. Music and dancing was the order
until taps, when everything grew quiet and the sports of
Christmas eve were over."
As the last night of the year approached, a cold wave
from the North drove the mercury many degrees below
zero, and produced indescribable suffering. Tlie exposure
on the picket posts was very great, but the distress of the
sentinel who could be relieved and could approach the
log heap fire once in two hours was mild compared with
the agony of the train guard, who rode on top of the box
cars to and from Stevenson, Alabama. Some were frozen
to death, and many contracted diseases that terminated
fatally, or crippled the unfortunates for life.
Captain Meredith: "Company E was detailed for picket
duty that morning, with outpost on Granny White pike,
about one mile from company quarters. Realizing that it
was very cold, the Captain double-quicked his men nearly
all the way to the outpost. Arriving there he found that
both his ears were frozen stiff. Others of his company
were sHghtly touched, but he most severely. There was
snow on the ground, and Private Wm. R. Hushaw col
lected some, rubbed his Captain's ears, thawing them out.
The men were relieved every half hour, were double-
quicked on their beats, and were allowed to build fires
wherever they could. We were not apprehensive of any
other enemy than Jack Frost that day. At noon came
Colonel Harrison on his rounds. Seeing the Captain with
his head bandaged, he inquired as to the reason, and when
told became humorous. 'The idea,' he said, 'of a Northern
man coming to the sunny South to get frostbitten was

68 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ridiculous.' 'Colonel,' the Captain said, 'there is a pecuHar
blue tinge about your nose.' The Colonel removed his
glove and gently fondled his nose. Then he dismounted,
'By George, Captain,' he said, 'my nose is frozen.' Billy
Hushaw made the snow application and the Colonel re
sumed his rounds in a thoughtful mood."
Captain Meredith continues: "The location of the
quarters of Company E and the tents of its officers, so
convenient to those of the field and staff, soon became a
source of much unhappiness, uneasiness and disquiet, both
among men and officers. The company became the scape
goat of the regiment, and it was blamed for many an
escapade of which its members were not guilty; in which
they had no share. The Captain of Company E became
what Lieutenant Record of Company H termed 'the regi
mental hell catcher,' and the Captain thought the title well
placed. If there was a disturbance in any part of the camp,
the Colonel, or the officer in command, would come charg
ing down or send the Adjutant to see what the devil was
the matter in Company E. The company next on the
right. Company D, was a noisy company, and the one on
the left, Company F, was not an example of quietness, but
E company had to catch it just the same; had to come in
for a good share of the blame for the noise and confusion,
the fuss and the fun in the other companies."
A youngster in a company adjoining, writing to his
parents, mentions E as "a rowdy company, made up at
IndianapoHs, always taking the lead in everything ques
tionable." If he meant that they were a jolly set of fellows,
boiling over with fun and cutting pranks that sometimes
bothered the officers amazingly, no one could find fault
with the language. When a hat almost as tall as the stove-

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 69
pipe was issued to each member of the regiment, and the
officers were anticipating a magnificent display on dress
parade, the privates of this company appeared in the cen
ter of the Hne with their hats cut down so that they looked
more like the mortar boards worn by university students
than the imposing headgear intended. The effect was ex
cessively ludicrous, and the officers, who ought to have
swollen with rage, were convulsed with laughter. If some
things were "questionable," it must be admitted that a
gayer lot of lads, with merriment more contagious, never
carried the colors. An incident comes to mind, when
trudging was the word to describe the forward movement
on The March to the Sea, some whistlers of this company,
gifted with flutelike tones, struck up "Johnny fifl up the
bowl." Instantly the strange music swelled up and down
the column, and the whole battalion was keeping time to
the cheerful melody with that beautiful swaying movement
seldom seen except when troops are passing in review.
Those who brighten life and lighten its burdens are not
"rowdies," they are benefactors.
On January second, 1864, the Seventieth Indiana was
transferred to the First Brigade, First Division, Eleventh
Army Corps, commanded by General Howard. General
Ward was placed in command of the division and Colonel
Harrison of the brigade. The shelter or dog tent, as it was
nicknamed, was issued on the thirtieth of this month. A
piece of light canvas about six feet square, with a row of
buttons or buttonholes on three sides,, was given to each
man. The soldiers usually united two or four of these
pieces, then stretching them over a horizontal pole, raised
on forks about three feet high, fastened the short ropes
attached to the corners to stakes in the ground. The

70 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
patriots entered this dwelling on all fours. The single
piece of muslin and a small oilcloth was carried by each
man, and by them he was protected at night from the
dampness of the ground and the pelting of the tempest.
A strong effort was made by the authorities at Nash
ville to keep the brigade from moving southward, but the
desire on the part of most of the men, who had been so
long in what was called the rear to be on the front Hne,
had grown more intense as the months passed. The
officers were even more anxious to get away from the city,
with its temptations, than the soldiers they had to restrain.
One in rather a sweeping way writes, January twenty-first,
1864: "I have a hard company to manage. The men will
get drunk whenever they can get whisky, and soldiers can
adopt many expedients to get that article. It is the curse
of the army, from general down to private. If I had never
been for temperance in principle and practice before, my
experience and observation in the army would make me
uncompromising and unyielding upon that subject."
There were men and women in the city, who in their dens
of pollution preached from the text, "Let us eat and drink
for to-morrow we die," and as there were hundreds in the
regiment who were not yet of age, what wonder that some,
out from the restraints of home, Hstened to the damnable
doctrine. Yet the Seventieth Indiana as a whole, was the better
for its varied experience. This experience had been of a
nature that but few, if any other regiments had enjoyed.
Many troops entering the service about the same time
were hurried into battle without preparation, and were sac
rificed in the vain struggle to stop the advance of General
Bragg's veterans. Our regiment while cut off from home

NEW COMMANDERS AND NEW SCENES 71
and from the rest of the army, and for a long period out
numbered by large bodies of the enemy on every side, was
taught there was nothing to depend upon but constant
watchfulness, and confirmed in the determination never to be
captured, a fate known to be worse than death. Night after
night it was called out and formed in line of battle, and day
after day the monotony of driU was relieved by expeditions
against and skirmishes with marauders. Discipline was
severe, for the commander, Colonel Benjamin Harrison,
knew that without discipline a thousand men are no better
than a mob. He proposed to form a battalion that in the
day of battle would move as if animated by one soul. He
had the intellect and the will, and he accompHshed the
work. If vigilance and labor could keep the men supplied
with food and clothing, nothing was wanting. Such was
the care for the health that no other Indiana regiment in
the service for three years, lost as few by sickness, except
the Thirty-second, which was composed for the most part
of veterans who had seen service in Germany and were
inured to hardships of war. The regiment was fortunate
in having for the first eight months of its history, a superior
drill master in the person of Maj. S. C. Vance. Under his
able supervision the battalion moved with clock-like regu
larity. Now after a year and a half of invaluable experi
ence in discipHne, drill, skirmishing, scouting, bridge
guarding, railway and train guarding, provost duty in vil
lage and city, picket duty, regimental, brigade and division
evolutions in the field, it was ready to take a place at the
front, and enter upon a campaign, which was not to end
until the surrender of all the Confederate armies in North
Carolina, and upon a march which was not to cease until it
passed through Atlanta, Savannah, Raleigh and Rich-

•JZ THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
mond, and entered in triumph the national capital, Wash
ington. Headquarters Eleventh and Twelfth Corps,
Lookout Valley, Tenn., February 12, 1864.
Maj. Gen. Hooker:
General — I would respectfully report that in compliance
with your order, I visited Nashville.
My opinion in the premises is that the interests of the ser
vice would be best promoted by moving General Ward's
Brigade, if not his division, to the front. Their present con
dition near Nashville, with its temptation to soldiers, will not
be improved. The command is represented to be in a very
high state of discipline and perfection in drill.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
DANIEL BUTTERFIELD,
Maj. Gen., Chief of Staff.

CHAPTER VI.
ON TO RICHMOND
The column moved out on the Murfreesboro pike at
seven o'clock on February twenty-fourth, 1864. On this date
an officer writes : "I rose at four o'clock this morning to pre
pare for the march, and was just dressed when an old black
fellow knocked at my door and asked whether I could give
him a coffin. 'A coffin, old man! What ails you?' I said.
'My chile ten years ole died to-night and I'se gwine wid de
rigement, and you said my wife couldn't go long, and she
ain't got noffin wid her to bury de chile in.' So I woke up
the regimental carpenter, and set him to work on some old
boards." Of the first night out the same officer writes:
"The boys of the regiment became cold about midnight,
and rose howling over the camp fire till dawn. I sleep
with my overcoat for a night gown and take off my boots;"
then referring to a statement his correspondent had made,
he adds, "and so did General Dumont until he went home,
and if as you say he gets into bed now booted and spurred,
it's to give his family some idea of the terrors of war."
Of the second evening he writes : "Our camp ground is
full of rabbits, and we have caught at least one hundred
and fifty and one fox. The boys stewed Reynard, but I
can't say they succeeded in eating him." Then on the
twenty-eighth : "To-day we passed through a beautiful coun
try, inhabited for the most part by loyal people. The doors of
the houses along the road were fiHed with ladies greeting
us with waving flags. It began raining at night and con
tinued for thirty-six hours, changing at last into a sleet. I
73

74 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
can't tell how many times I heard remarks similar to these:
'Wouldn't my mother think her boy was gone up if she
could see this?' 'What would your wife say if she could
see you now?' Twenty-five of our mules died in the har
ness, but the men bore up wonderfuHy; indeed it would
have made you cry to hear them cheering each other.
Now and then some poor fehow stumbling, would sink
down under his gun and knapsack, and groan in a semi-
ludicrous manner, 'O God, boys, I'm ready for peace on any
terms.' When after wading through knee deep mortar
the troops were encamped at night in a swamp near TuUa-
homa, it was thought wise to issue a ration of whisky to
each man. Many refused to accept, but passed it on to
those who felt the need of a double or triple dose, and as a
result, not a few became howling drunk."
J. H. Kelly : "The regiment marched in rear of the bri
gade, and Companies I and K, in charge of the wagons, be
hind everything. The rain and the tramping in front soon
put the dirt road in a fearful condition, so that we strug
gled and floundered along aH day in the red, sticky
Tennessee mud. When night came we found ourselves
left alone, with the train stuck fast. It was so intensely
dark we could see nothing, but found some rotten logs by
feeling around with our feet, and breaking them up, placed
them side by side as a platform, with top above the sur
rounding water. On this we kindled our fire with bark
stripped from the side of a tree that was least soaked.
Fuel was so scarce and poor that it kept one or two busy
hunting it up to replenish our fire. There was no place to
lie down or even sit, except on a water-soaked log or chunk.
Men would go to sleep leaning against a tree, slip and fall
into the water. At intervals through the night could be

ON TO RICHMOND "j^
heard above the pattering rain and the dashing sleet the
struggle of a mule as he fell, having succumbed to fatigue
and exposure, and sacrificed his life for his country."
An officer writes: "I gave my tent and blankets to Cap
tain Fisher, for he is an old man and not very well. There
was little or no self denial in this, for I was so wet that it
seemed safer to sit through the night by a smouldering log
heap than to fall asleep in damp clothes."
J. E. Cleland, dating his letter two days later, "Twelve
miles beyond Hefl," writes: "It took six gallons of com
missary to drag Companies I and K through the mud, ice
and water into camp." J. M. Brown: "It was the coldest
rain I ever saw. I lay in the water about three inches
deep all night, so you may know how I slept." The fol
lowing day many were engaged in extricating the wagons
from the mire, many of the whisky drinkers were on the
stool of repentance, while the commanders of the regi
ments made the monthly muster.
On March fourth the wrong road was taken, and the troops
tramped many miles over the mountains unnecessarily.
Instead of retracing their steps, they wisely made their
tiresome way through woods and over rocks till they ar
rived at the point they should have reached hours before.
Daybreak on March ninth found the regiment on its way
across the Tennessee pontoon bridge, into the region of
dead mules. The road was lined with decomposing car
casses, forty or fifty lying within a few rods in some places,
so that from Bridgeport to Wauhatchie it was impossible
to draw a pure breath.
The tenth of March, after a dozen miles of trudging,
brought the regiment to the Wauhatchie encampment on
a picturesque hillside, under the frowning heights of Look-

76 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
out Mountain. Major General Howard, the Corps com
mander, met it on its arrival, and inspected it minutely.
The men were exhausted by the last day's march through
the hot sun and the polluted atmosphere, and some fainted
as they stood in the ranks, while General Howard was rid
ing along the lines.
For several days the weather was exceedingly un
pleasant, the winds roaring around the base of the moun
tains, as if determined to carry even the lowly shelter tents
into the river. All were astonished at a snowfall fourteen
inches deep, but thought Northerners ought not to com
plain as long as the Southern army nearby had to endure
the same affHction.
As soon as the weather made it practicable timber was
cut on the mountain side, lumber was made by splitting
logs, and the men built what they called frame houses, into
which they could enter without stooping. Hewed log
dwellings with old fashioned hospitable fireplaces were
erected for the officers. Pine and fir trees were trans
planted from the heights to the streets of the little city, and
graceful arches of cedar spanned them at either end. A
beautiful decoration composed of evergreen, moss and
flowers embowered headquarters, and the whole place was
more like a park than a camp.
Lieutenant Grubbs: "If you could step into my cosy
little home and notice how neat and nice and warm it is
you would think the soldier's Hfe was not so hard after aH;
that at least it had its hours of enjoyment, as cheerful as
ever one knew in other days and other places. A fire
never sparkled more brightly, or sang more merrily than
mine, nor could any throw its genial warmth throughout
the room more completely. Soldiering here is such that

ON TO RICHMOND 77
the most romantic can enjoy it. And yet our work is in
cessant. We have not passed an idle day since our arrival.
We worked hard at our encampment until now, despite all
the disadvantages we labored under; we have the most
neatly arranged and comfortable camp we have had since
we entered the service. And now that our encampment
is finished, our houses built and our trees planted, the old
orders for drill have again sprung into life, and four hours
out of each day we must spend perfecting ourselves in the
evolutions of the soldier.
"The men imagined that when we should leave Nashville,
style would play out in the Seventieth, and congratulated
themselves on the speedy coming of that auspicious day.
But we have learned that in proportion as we approach the
front and draw near the Hues of the enemy, in that propor
tion does the thoroughness and rigidness of inspections
and reviews increase. On Sunday at regimental inspec
tion, though there was not a spectator, the regiment never
appeared so well. Guns never shone more brightly nor
clothing looked more neat and clean. Many a man will
learn lessons of neatness and tidiness in the army he never
knew at home. How many men at home will go to church
with their shoes unblacked and their clothes undusted?
But the soldier who dares venture on Sunday morning in
spection with unpolished shoes and dusty clothes receives
a public reprimand, and is fortunate indeed if he escapes so
easily. I could march my company into a fashionable
church on Sabbath morning and they would do no dis
honor to its cushioned seats and carpeted floors."
A letter from another officer: "Major Generals Hooker
and Butterfield called the other day and walked around,
expressing themselves as perfectly delighted with the ele-

78 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
gance and cleanliness of the camp, and the healthy appear
ance of the men. General Hooker was enthusiastic,
exclaiming that he had never seen anything to equal it,
that the whole camp was as perfect as a parlor. Without
exception the men agree that they never had a finer camp
and never felt in better humor."
On the organization of the Twentieth Army Corps the
Seventieth was assigned to the First Brigade, Third Divis
ion, in which it continued tiH the close of the war.
The following extract from a letter by Lieutenant Grubbs,
dated April twenty-ninth, should be inserted to show how
well the Third Division of the Twentieth Army Corps
could move at the command of one of the greatest men the
war produced. Gen, George H. Thomas; how thoroughly
it was prepared for the great movement in which it was
about to engage, and above all, how little a sham battle is
like a real one. "Yesterday we held a division drill and
went gallantly through aH the maneuvers of a sham battle.
We moved from camp at ten o'clock and marched four
miles to the drill ground. There we rested while the other
brigades came on the field. A half hour later General
Butterfield and staff rode up and the long line was formed.
We stood at attention while Generals Thomas, Hooker,
Brannon, Whipple and others rode through the lines and
took their station on an eminence that overlooked the en
tire field. In the center were the dense columns of troops,
on the right and left batteries, in the rear ambulances.
"We maneuvered for an hour, now advancing, now re
treating, now forming heavy columns, then breaking into
line of battle, moving first in quick, then in double quick
time; then there was a rest for a few moments, then the
work commenced. To repel a charge of cavalry w& were

ON TO RICHMOND 79
first thrown on the double quick into squares. Sections of
artillery were formed in the angles, and a heavy fire was
opened on the imaginary enemy. Then we were moved
eastward a short distance, and the four miles of the valley
lay before us. We had provided ourselves with forty
rounds of blank cartridges and were anxious to use them.
One regiment was thrown forward as skirmishers, and ex
tended its lines clear across the valley and up the hills on
either side. Two long lines of battle two hundred yards
apart were formed across the vaHey, while our regiment
and the Thirty-third Massachusetts were held in column in
reserve. Our two right companies were sent to the ex
treme right to cover and support the battery which had
commenced to play from a little hiH that looked out upon
the valley.
"The call sounded and the entire division moved
forward. We were advancing upon the enemy and it was
our first even sham battle. Soon the sharp crack of guns
in front proclaimed that the skirmishers were engaged.
We had been advancing about five hundred yards, and
the firing was rapid and continuous in front, when we came
upon a small ridge that ran directly across the vaHey, and
the whole field opened like a map before us. A quarter of
a mile beyond was the beautiful line of skirmishers, sway
ing from hillside to hillside as the men alternately halted to
load and fire, and then advanced, the white puff of smoke
springing from the guns and curHng above their heads as
each one shot. In rear of them and a hundred yards apart
were two long fines of battle, each three thousand strong,
moving steadily forward and keeping pace with the skirm
ishers. Imagine now a fight; the skirmishers drawn in, the
troops that were yet in column thrown into line on the

8o THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
double quick, we hastening a mile around to the left; the
roH of musketry, the thunder of cannon."
A few days before the campaign began quantities of
potatoes, onions and sauer kraut were issued, with instruc
tions, it was said, from General Sherman, to eat enough
in a week to keep off scorbutic diseases for the summer.
It may not be amiss, in order to give some idea of what
was in store for us, to quote a few lines from a letter by
Major General Lawton, who, as an officer in the Thirtieth
Indiana, took part in the Atlanta campaign, and also dis
tinguished himself in Cuba and the Philippines. "You ask
me to give a comparison of the two wars. There is no
comparison to be made. The war of the RebeHion was
one of the greatest conflicts the world has ever known; the
war with Spain is probably one of the least, so far as actual
operations are concerned, that has ever been fought.
The exposure of the Cuban campaign for a few days was
very trying, but it was nothing to compare in time or con
ditions to our civil war. The rations in Cuba were better
than anything we ever had, or believed it possible for an
army to have in the war of the Rebellion. It is true that
for a few days in Cuba we were short, but that was for lack
of transportation, and then we were never without some
portion of the ration, and that portion was better than our
soldiers had at the best during the civil war."
The foHowing is a statement of the strength of the army
Sherman proposed to throw against the enemy:
Army of the Cumberland. General Thomas.
Infantry  54,568
Artillery (Field Guns 130)  2,377
Cavalry  3,828
60,773

ON TO RICHMOND 8l
Army of the Tennessee. General McPherson.
Infantry   22,437
Artillery (Field Guns 96)  1,404
Cavalry  624
24,465
Army of the Ohio. General Schofield.
Infantry  11,183
Artillery (Field Guns 28)  679
Cavalry  1,697
13,559
Aggregate Men  98,797
Aggregate Cannon  254
It is but human for men who before a conflict think that
one man on the side they represent is equal to five of the
opposing force, after defeat to convince themselves, and to
attempt to convince the world that the result was owing to
overwhelming numbers, but an extract from a document
issued at the Executive Office in Richmond, by President
Jefferson Davis, throws a light that clearly reveals the
situation as it existed on the Atlanta campaign:
"I could not discover between the forces of General
Johnston and General Sherman any such disparity as was
alleged, nor do I beheve that our army in any miHtary de
partment since the beginning of the war has been so nearly
equal in numbers with the enemy as in this last campaign
of General Johnston. As the loss in killed and wounded,
sick and prisoners, in infantry and artillery alone was
22,000 men, and would probably be swollen to 25,000 by
adding the loss in cavalry, and as the force available on
the loth of July was about 62,000, it is deduced that General
Johnston had been in command of an army of about 85,000
men fit for active duty to oppose Sherman, whose effective

82 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
force was not believed to have been much in excess of that
number. The entire force of the enemy was considerably
greater than the numbers I have mentioned, and so was
General Johnston's, but in considering the merits of the
campaign it is not necessary to do more than compare the
actual strength of the armies which might have joined the
issue of battle. When it is considered that with forces
thus matched General Johnston was endeavoring to hold
a mountainous district of our own country with numerous
fortified positions, while the enemy was in the midst of a
hostile population and with a long Hne of communications
to guard, it is evident that it was not the want of men or
means which caused the disastrous failure of his cam
paign," JEFF'N DAVIS,

CHAPTER VII,
IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY
On Monday morning, May second, 1864, the regiment
entered Georgia, and encamped in the evening near Lee
and Gordon's MiHs, remaining there one day. On the
fourth we moved out toward Buzzards' Roost or Rocky
Faced Ridge and found the enemy strongly entrenched at
Dalton. A letter dated Sunday the eighth says: "There
was a large turn out to preaching this morning in God's
first temple, for the poor fellows of our regiment feel pretty
solemn at the prospect of a coming battle." Until the
ninth, brisk skirmishing was kept up, then an advance was
made through Snake Creek Gap.
General Sherman states his conviction in his Memoirs
that if McPherson had pushed things as instructed, John
ston's army would have been badly crippled, if not de
stroyed. An extract from the diary of Wm. Wilhite gives infor
mation as to the happenings of the first days of May.
"We broke up camp at seven A. M. and marched in the
direction of Lafayette, Georgia, crossing over the nose of
Lookout Mountain, through Rossville and Rossville Gap,
over Chickamauga battle field, and reached Lee and Gor
don's Mills about four P. M., where we went into camp
with tired limbs and blistered feet, having traveled about
sixteen miles. Thinking we were to remain here for a
while, we built on the next day very respectable cabins out
of pine poles and occupied them through the night.
"Marching orders came on the fourth, so we very reluct-
83

84 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
antly left our newly constructed quarters, and turning off
the Lafayette road, crossed the Chickamauga on a very
treacherous bridge, partially burned by the rebels, and
moved toward Ringgold. Company D was on the flank and
we could hear firing in the direction of Tunnel Hill, The
weather was very warm, but we marched thirteen miles
and halted within two miles of Ringgold. We lay in camp
on the fifth listening to the occasional firing in front. On
the sixth we started at seven A. M. and halted for the night
at Nickajack Gap on Chapman's Farm. The weather was
very hot, and our progress was hindered by the rebels hav
ing blockaded the way with timber.
"On the seventh we set out at six A. M., crossed Taylor's
Ridge where our advance encountered rebel scouts, rout
ing them and capturing some prisoners, arms and horses.
We marched through the heat thirteen miles and halted
within six miles of Dalton. May eighth we lay in camp
with arms stacked ready to move at a moment's warning.
We remained in camp on the ninth while quite a battle
was raging at Tunnel HiH and Rocky Face Ridge, in which
part of our Corps was engaged. While we were lying in
camp on the tenth we heard heavy firing in the direction of
Rocky Face Ridge and Tunnel Hill which ceased in the
evening, and the news reached us that the rebels were fall
ing back to Resaca, where they would probably make a
stand. After a rainy night we were aroused at four o'clock
on May eleventh, prepared a hasty breakfast, marched with
wet blankets and clothing through very muddy roads ten
miles to Snake Creek Gap. The next morning we moved
out about four miles and remained there the rest of the
day and night, while firing in front was to be heard.
"May thirteenth we marched at seven A. M., but only

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 85
moved a short distance, when we halted and saw Generals
Sherman, Schofield, Hooker, Thomas, McPherson and
Kilpatrick holding a council nearby. After awhile they
went to their different commands, but soon Kilpatrick, at
the head of his troops, dashed to the front. 'Twas not
long tiH heavy firing was heard, and the news came back
that the General had run into an ambush and was badly
wounded. He was soon brought back in an ambulance,
and we feh in and moved forward, being in the second line
of battle. There was heavy skirmishing, but the rebels
kept falling back. Occasionally one killed or wounded
was brought to the rear, and now and then a cannon ball
came crashing through the trees above our heads, and the
minie balls came singing their unwelcome music. About
sundown we were ordered to relieve the advance line, and
passing the Twelfth Indiana, learned that Captain Peoples
had been killed.
"While we were in the second line lying back in the
woods, Colonel Merrill, who was inclined to be a little jolly
sometimes, was standing holding his horse, and when the
small sheHs came crashing through the trees, as we thought
uncomfortably low, he began to poke fun at the boys for
rather drooping their heads. Presently he mounted his
horse and we were ordered forward a few rods. When we
halted the Colonel took off his hat, hung it on the pommel
of his saddle, took out his handkerchief and was leisurely
wiping his brow, when one of those big shells that comes
as if it were saying you! you! you! and you can't tell which
you it means, came whizzing through the trees, and passed
just above his head. Of course the head went down, and
then it was the boys' time to laugh. After they had got
somewhat through, the Colonel, enjoying the joke as well

86 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
as any of them, looked around and said, 'Boys, you may
dodge the big ones.'
"The rebels were soon driven into their works, and the
firing ceased for the night, except an occasional shot. We
halted at the edge of a thick woods, made some coffee,
after which we moved farther into the woods, sent out
skirmishers and were ordered to He down on our arms and
rest. On May fourteenth heavy firing began at the first
peep of day between our skirmishers and the rebel sharp
shooters. About nine o'clock Company D was deployed
as skirmishers, and ordered to move down to the foot of a
steep bluff in front and halt till further orders. We im
mediately moved down under a raging fire, and halted be
hind a low brush fence. After lying here for a while, and
before being ordered forward, I was wounded and taken
to the rear."
Going back to the thirteenth, we marched toward Resaca,
coming up with the enemy in the evening. After being
formed in line of battle and waiting tiH dark we moved to
the left and took position on a ridge in the front line. At
the foot of the hiH was a field about fifty rods wide which
lay between the ridge and a forest occupied by the enemy.
Pickets under command of Captain Carson were thrown
out for the night, and were reheved the following morning
by Company D under command of Captain Tansey, who
later in the day cautiously advanced the skirmish line.
About one o'clock, in order, it was said, to attract the
attention of the enemy while a charge was being made a
mile or two to the left by the First Division, the regiment
descended the hHl and lay down by a fence, prepared to ad
vance across the field should the order be given. Here an
incident with both an amusing and a serious phase oc-

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 87
curred. A sharpshooter from the crest of the ridge in the
rear fired several shots at the enemy's skirmishers. At
each crack of his rifle at least a score of bullets as a reply
would whiz about the ears of our unprotected men be
neath. One of the field officers, provoked by his thought
lessness, sent a Sergeant back to arrest and bring him to the
front. In a short time the Sergeant returned unaccom
panied, and reported that Major General Butterfield had
possessed himself of a telescopic rifle and ensconced be
hind a tree was improving his marksmanship at the ex
pense of the Confederate pickets, and especially of his own
troops. After one or two more shots, probably to show
the Sergeant that he could not be intimidated, the double
starred sharpshooter ceased firing.
While we were in this exposed position, unable to make
any response on account of the danger tO' the Union
pickets in front, two enlisted men were killed, and Lieu
tenant Martin and ten men in the ranks were wounded.
After looking out over the unattractive field for some
hours the men were ordered to retire, a few at a time, to the
position formerly occupied on the ridge.
J. L. Ketcham: "We were nearly aH night getting
ready for the fight. Found ourselves next morning on a
woody hiH and the rebels just opposite. They were on a
hill, shaped it seemed to me something like an egg, and
with an open space all round it, the strongest natural forti
fication I ever saw. Then they had three or four lines of
intrenchments. Between us and them, in the open space,
was a deep, muddy ditch, so it would have been folly for
us to make a charge there. We sent out skirmishers, who
hid behind stumps in the open field, and shot and were
shot at all day. One good thing our hill was round, too.

88 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
so we could get behind it. BuHets from rebel sharp
shooters kept flying past us all day, wounding a man now
and then. General Ward couldn't keep still, he wanted to
make a charge so bad. At last he ordered the brigade
forward, so our regiment, the only one that advanced, went
over the hiH in about ten seconds (no exaggeration) and
hid behind a fence at the bottom. It would have taken us
three quarters of an hour to cross that open field. What
would have been our loss had we advanced? We waited
behind the fence till dark."
On the morning of May fifteenth the regiment was relieved
and marched to the left several miles, and as it was Sunday
saw men of other organizations engaged in religious serv
ices. As the report gained credence that a charge was to
be made on the enemy's works, some humorous semi-
solemn remarks were made by men who were not frequent
listeners to the Chaplain's sermons, as to the desirability of
halting and spending the day in devotional exercises. At
last there was a halt, and a command to unsHng knapsacks
and fix bayonets. The Seventieth was formed in line of
battle and behind were the other regiments of the First
Brigade in similar formation, the whole in a column of
battalions, with intervals of forty paces between each regi
ment. General Hooker, attended by other officers, rode
forward and stated that some guns belonging to the enemy
on the opposite hiH were to be taken.
For a few moments there was a stillness in which we
could hear a leaf fall. No wonder, for there were men in
that line who were to live but a few moments longer.
Alas, not all were ready for the sacrifice! One man said,
"Captain, let me fill the canteens at that spring and bring
them to the boys." Canteens nor man were ever seen

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 89
again. Many a dying soldier cried in vain for water be
cause of this cowardly perfidy. One of those, however,
who looked death in the face said, "I can feel the little
hands of my babies around my neck, and hear my wife
whispering goodbye." Another, as he threw away a pack
of cards, "I don't want to be killed with these in my
pocket." Another, "If I fall and you survive take what
you find in my knapsack to mother."
The thoughts of the older man who has left a family
have a wider range than the younger. The breastworks,
the rocks, the trees, the armed men sink out of sight, and
the husband and father is in his Indiana home where the
little chHdren cling to him, and wife breathes what seems
to be an eternal goodbye. It is a heartbreaking moment,
but the Httle fingers are quickly loosened, and again he is
in Georgia under bonds to duty. What matters what hap
pens ? if this is all there is of life, if love means agony, it
is well to have all ended quickly. Or if this be but the
threshold of existence, then it were well to storm the ram
parts defended by death and burst into the realms of life
eternal. We remember the silent movement of the line through
the woods, the ringing cheer for Indiana, the sweep across
the field, the odor of resin as the canister burst above us,
the sand thrown in our faces by the shot that struck before
us, the rush through the thicket, the dash into the redoubt,
the breastworks in rear deserted by the flying enemy, the
agonizing cry to our men behind to stop firing on us, the
determined feeHng as we lay on the ground and clung to
the captured lunette, while buHets from front and rear,
from right and left pattered like hail on the leaves by our
side. Ah, that might have been a glorious day had the

90 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Generals in command of the Second and Third Divisions
started all the columns at once, and instead of staying be
hind, gone with their inexperienced troops, as General
Sheridan would have done; for then we would not merely
have captured the battery, we would have driven the Con
federates into the river.
The narrative requires descriptions with increase of de
tails and suppression of feeHng.
Just at noon, — two of the regimental commanders how
ever in their official reports say at eleven o'clock, — the com
mand "Forward" was given in a low tone and the regiment
moved silently and with peifect alignment through the
woods. When the foot of the hiH was reached, and a com
paratively open space appeared. Colonel Harrison in a
ringing voice commanded, "Cheer men for Indiana ! For
ward! Double quick! March!" The cheers sweHed
into a grand shout as the whole line rushed forward. The
cannon in the lunette thundered a reply, but there was no
stopping till all the gunners but five were either kfiled or
taken prisoners. For a little while there was a wild scene
in the lunette, artillery men defending their guns. Union
officers firing their pistols, and the men their rifles; now
using their bayonets, now clubbing their muskets, now
leaping on the cannon and waving their hats. The in
fantry in the works beyond the fort, seized with a panic,
left their coats and spades in the trench where they had
been working, and disappeared for the time through the
woods in the rear.
At this moment when the center was occupying the
lunette, and the right and left wings of the regiment were
curving about it, shots from the rear added to the in
tense excitement. There were thrilfing cries of "Stop that

. IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 91
firing in the rear! For God's sake don't kiH your own
men!" Then came the rally of the enemy to the breast
works behind the lunette, and the faHing to the ground of
our men in a semi-circle about the fort. An enfilading fire
of the enemy's batteries far to the right and left, mistaken
by those who came later on the field as coming from the
harmless lunette, and the continuous rifle shots from the
concealed infantry twenty yards away, could not drive the
regiment from its exposed position, or weaken its determi
nation to see that those guns never again come into the
hands of the original owners.
In the course of time men in the other brigades and
divisions of the Twentieth Corps charged gallantly up the
hiH, where the First Brigade was lying, but none were ex
posed to the shots of the now silenced guns, and no hand
touched them again aH that long afternoon, though several
brave men of the Second Brigade and one or two of the
Second Division fell in making the attempt.
As evening approached those who could extricate them
selves without crossing what might be called a dead line,
were moved a little to the left, where a repast of crackers,
dinner and supper combined, was partaken, while a large
number under command of Captains Carson, Meredith,
Scott and other line officers, aided by officers and men
from the First and other brigades, protected the captured
guns. Subsequently Captain Carson was recaHed and
ordered to take the fifty men of Company G still left and
report to an officer in Colonel Coburn's command, who,
with one hundred and fifty men detailed from regiments
of the Second Brigade, was to draw the captured cannon
from the lunette under cover of the darkness. The firing
from both sides continued after night, three or four times

92 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
swelling into what might be called a voHey, but the ex
trication of the four Napoleon twelve pounder brass pieces
from the fort, was accompHshed with little loss, and before
midnight the Confederates had evacuated their works and
aH was quiet.
Personally it matters but Httle to the survivors of the
Seventieth Indiana who felt in their faces the hot breath of
the battery as it made its last discharge, that others claim
the credit of silencing its guns, yet when they think of their
comrades who sleep on that hillside, they utter a solemn
protest in behalf of those whose voices are stilled forever.
An officer who led the advance of the Second Division and
came on the field after all the artillery men had vanished
from the scene, reported to General Geary, "We moved
steadily forward until within fifteen yards of the battery
when I ordered the regiment to halt and lie down. The
position was one of extreme peril, but we held it from
12:30 P. M. till night." Whereupon the General com
manding this Division reported to General Hooker, to say
the least not very grammatically, that this body of troops
had the honor of "leading and forcing its way through the
jaws of death till they had their hands upon the guns."
General Hooker was close in rear of the compactly
massed assaulting column, so no subordinate General was
needed there, and if the General of the Second Division,
while other troops were silencing the battery, had been on
time and led his command over the deserted breastworks
in pursuit of the flying enemy, there would have been glory
enough to supply the whole Corps, and no necessity would
have arisen for him to claim the capture of guns already
sHenced. His action was that of a sportsman, who would
stop to pick up and gloat over game a hunter in front had

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 93
dropped, instead of pushing through the woods and cap
turing his own prey. Alas, many a man of the Seventieth
Indiana tossed in distress through the night as he lay on
the ground, forgetting any honor that might come from
the taking of a little lunette, in the awful loss of his com
rades and in the thought of the great victory that might
have been achieved.
"For of all sad words of tongue or pen.
The saddest are these, 'It might have been.' "
One has only to read the modest report of Colonel John
Coburn commanding the Second Brigade, Third Division,
who was on the field and had far more to do with holding
and extricating the guns after they were captured than the
commander of the Second Division, to discover what a
wide difference there is in men. Not to mention the loss
sustained on that day by other regiments of the Third
Division, the mortality of the Seventieth Indiana alone
exceeded by more than thirteen per cent that of all the
twenty regiments and two batteries combined of the Sec
ond Division. A sad testimony, yet eloquent for the truth.
The historian Gen. J. D. Cox states the following:
"The guns remained between the armies till night, when
they were taken and brought off by a detachment of the
Fifth Ohio (Second Division) under Colonel Fitzpatrick."
To which Captain Frank D. Baldwin, now Captain of Fifth
Infantry, U. S. A., then Captain in the Nineteenth Michi
gan, replies: "It is a fact that some detachment of troops,
probably the Fifth Ohio, did come up, as above stated, and
bring the guns off. The men who had captured them be
ing fully engaged in caring for their dead and wounded
comrades, did not notice that the guns were being taken

94 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
away at the time, as it was not thought for a moment that
this detachment had come for any other purpose than to
assist in caring for the wounded and dead." No wonder
General Coburn when his attention was caHed to General
Cox's statement exclaimed, "In reading some of the ac
counts of army history of which I supposed from my per
sonal presence and participation I had some knowledge, I
have been led to doubt my personal identity, and to beheve
that I must have been laboring under a hallucination whde
the events related were transpiring before my eyes." Then
in his usual generous way he added, "But what matters it
who did it! We aH helped; we gained the day; we sus
tained the great cause." Still let the faHen again bear
mournful witness, so that history may not be a black and
cruel lie. The loss that day of the Fifth Ohio was killed
three, wounded twelve. Of the Seventieth Indiana killed
twenty-six, wounded one hundred and thirty.
Lieutenant Grubbs: "The Twentieth Corps was massed
that Sabbath noon for an assault upon the enemy's works.
The assault was ordered by the Third Division, General
Butterfield, to be supported by the First and Second Divis
ions. The First Brigade, Third Division, consisting of the
Seventieth Indiana, One Hundred and Second Illinois,
Seventy-ninth Ohio, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth IHi-
nois, and One Hundred and Fifth Illinois were massed by
regiments in the order named for the assault. They were
to be supported on the right and left by the Second and
Third Brigades of the Division. In this order the assault
was made, down a hHlside, into a valley across an open
field along which ran a roadway, up a wooded ridge, to a
hill crowned with a redoubt, from which four guns poured
into our ranks shot and shell. With our ranks thinned by

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 95
the deadly fire, and broken somewhat by the rough
ground, with a wild yell, and without a halt we reached the
summit of the hill, dropped to the ground as we saw the
rebel gunners in the act of discharging their pieces in our
faces, then springing to our feet, in a moment we were over
the earthworks among the guns and they were ours.
'Men from several of the regiments of the Brigade en
tered the redoubt, and their dead and wounded lay on or
near the works and among the guns. No one regiment
may claim the honor of the assault and the capture, but
that it belongs to the First Brigade, Third Division, there
can be no question. Men, especially of the Second Bri
gade, (General Coburn's) came to our aid, and all that long
and terrible afternoon they helped us to hold these guns,
else we would have been compeHed to relinquish them.
"These facts are clear. First: No other troops except a
thin skirmish line were in front of the First Brigade, Third
Division, as it advanced to the assault. Everything was
clear in front, and there was not an obstacle to interfere
with our progress until we came within range of the
enemy's fire. Second: From the time the advance was
commenced no halt was made, except for a moment, until
we were in the enemy's works. Our line was not fifteen feet
from the embrasures when the guns were discharged in
our faces. Third: The guns were silenced then and not
another shot did they fire that afternoon. Fourth: From
that moment those guns were not out of our possession.
We could not drag them away, but we could and did hold
them. We repelled assaults made to recapture them.
We lay for aU that long afternoon clinging to those guns
under so hot a fire that to raise head or hand was an invita
tion to a rebel bullet. The fact is, our commanders in the

96 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
rear, and the men sent in by them after our assault, did not
know we had taken and were holding those guns, but sup
posed our assault had failed, and certain regiments from
the Second Division that were sent in an hour or more
after we had captured them, came up the hill and went
back faster than they came, and yet claimed the capture,
because some of their men remained with us and helped us
hold them until the end came."
J. L. Ketcham: "We formed in Hne of battle on a hiH
in a beautiful grove of large trees. Word was whispered
down the line, 'Fix bayonets.' The order was obeyed
quietly. The importance of the command seemed to be
appreciated. Some of the boys told their comrades what
word to send home 'if anything happened.'
"It was high noon. I recollect looking at my watch and
saying that my folks at home were just returning from
church where they had doubtless remembered me in their
prayers. "I had no sense of danger in that battle. My ambition
vras to be the first on the enemy's breastworks. At the
next battle I was not quite so ambitious.
"Being Sergeant Major I could 'form in line' anywhere,
so I selected the extreme left of the regiment, as that posi
tion seemed nearest the supposed line of the enemy. I say
'supposed' because we soldiers did not know where the
enemy was. We only saw a hiH opposite our hiH and an
open field between the two hills. The enemy's hiH was
covered with a dense thicket. There was no firing; we
could only surmise what was proposed. We sHpped quiet
ly down the hill. The first sound that broke the stiHness
was the ringing voice of our Colonel: 'Cheers for Indi
ana.' Then such a shout and a rush!

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 97
"Being on the extreme left and a good runner, I kept a
little in advance; remember looking along the line and
noticing how straight it kept, notwithstanding aH were run
ning at full speed — no better Hne on dress parade. When
we reached the thicket we pushed up as fast as the obstruc
tions would admit. The enemy's. artiHery opened fire while
we were crossing the open field, and the sound indicated
that the right of the regiment faced the guns.
"After I entered the thicket I noticed nothing until I
found myself on the enemy's breastworks. Evidently these
breastworks protected rebel infantry supporting their artil
lery. But where were the infantry? I stood some
moments wondering what had become of them. I could
see every evidence of their having been there; their fires
were burning for cooking; their haversacks and knapsacks
were there. I thought I could hear them stampeding
down the hill. The breastworks were in a semicircle and
obstructed my view. Why did not our boys come? I
shouted 'Come on!' Then I realized that I was alone and
that my comrades had been drawn by the sound of the
cannon to the right. I hastened in the same direction to
shout my discovery. The thicket was dense. I could
only see a few feet ahead of me. Before I made much
headway the enemy's infantry raHied and opened on us a
deadly fire. At that moment there came to me a keen
sense of disappointment. I can never forget it. We
would have won a glorious victory that day had not the
sound of the cannon drawn the regiment toward the
enemy's artillery and away from their infantry breastworks,
which they briefly abandoned, and which we ought to have
occupied. However, we obeyed instructions. We cap
tured the guns. The Second Division supporting our left

98 . THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
should have started when we did and swept over the breast
works." Wm. Sharpe: "In charging up that hiH our Company
C happened to be so located in line as to go directly into
the battery. When we were nearing the summit the ar
tillery made their last shot, and the guns were so close to us
as to blow the hats off our heads, but without halting we
were instantly inside the fort."
J. C. Bennett: "We advanced in common time traHing
arms till we came to an open field, and then commenced
the double quick, while the shot and sheH were coming
thick and fast. When within a few feet of the breastworks
we were ordered to fall down, and the next moment the
guns fired over our heads. Then we were up and in the
fort, taking four twelve pounder brass guns, with several
prisoners. Here I saw a rebel hit one of our men over the
head with a swab-stick, and Sergeant ThraHs hit the rebel
over the head with the butt of his gun. Later I saw a
color bearer of one of the Illinois regiments roll up his
flag, when Wm, Barnes of our company said, 'Let me have
it.' Taking it he stuck the flagstaff in the parapet over the
cannon, thus having it displayed without danger to life, for
the sharpshooters were picking off the men as fast as they
exposed themselves. Sergeant Thralls, thinking I suppose
that Barnes was meddhng with what was not his business,
shouted, 'Get out of there or you wHl be shot.' "
The Historian of Company D: "The advance of our
assaulting column poured a heavy voHey of musketry into
the works, which struck down many of its defenders, yet
those remaining continued resistance, some trying to re
load the guns, whHe others struck right and left with
swab-sticks and hand-spikes, knocking our men down as

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 99
they mounted to the top of the parapet, and only yielding
to force. During this heroic defense our regimental ban
ner-bearer was knocked backward off the works as he was
attempting to plant the flag. Alonzo Greeson was
knocked down and badly stunned, but was able to con
tinue in the fight, and was mortally wounded later. John
Wilson parried a blow from a stalwart rebel who stood
just within the parapet, and, reaching across, seized him
by the collar and Hterally puHed him out of the works.
J. F. Snow was probably the first to enter, and swinging
his hat pushed to the middle of the redoubt, calling out,
'Come on, boys; here they are!' He was instantly
joined by H. C. Eaton and U. H. Farr, each using bayonet
and bullet to vanquish their antagonists. Eaton stopped
to reload his gun while Snow and Farr rushed out through
the rear of the redoubt in pursuit of five of the enemy —
all they saw escape. Just before the flying artiHerists en
tered the breastworks the pursuers fired, but owing to the
shifting smoke, did not see the result. E. Shaw, G. Cos-
tin and V. Fletcher entered the works at nearly the same
moment as the three just mentioned. Fletcher kiHed a
rebel with the butt of his gun. Several of the enemy fell
in a hand to hand contest among the guns inside the
redoubt. Later in the day, when the firing from both sides
over the captured guns was so hot that it was as much as
one's Hfe was worth to expose one's head to view, a
rebel who had dropped down and had been feigning death
from the first of the fight, jumped up and attempted to
escape, but was shot by Sergeant M. Costin. Men of
the company remained with and in defense of the captured
guns till they were pulled out of the works, after the rebel
army retreated."

lOO THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Lieutenant W. R. McCracken: "After the Seventieth
Indiana and the brigade of which it was a part had taken
the battery and were holding it under a terrible fire from
the enemy, a musketry fire was poured into them from
the rear. Colonel Harrison ordered me to see what the
firing meant. I found that it came from a body of our
own men belonging to the Second Division, who were
behind some timber. I told them to stop firing or the
First Brigade would have to retire from the works they
had taken and were holding. The firing was stopped, but
by the time I was back to my command it began again.
Colonel Harrison then directed me to go back and hunt
up General Butterfield, who commanded the Third Di
vision, and tell him of the firing from the rear, and that
the Brigade would have to faH back if it was not stopped,
I could not find Butterfield, but found General Williams,
commanding the First Division, and inquired for General
Butterfield and told him what I wanted. General WHliams
said he did not know where General Butterfield was, but
told me where to find General Hooker, who, on being
informed, spurred his horse and rode rapidly to the place
where the white star troops lay, and the firing ceased."
Captain Meredith: "It seemed scarcely a minute from
the time we started until we had charged up the enemy's
hill and were among them. To whom belongs the honor
of first jumping over the parapet I cannot say, but this
I know, that Company E struck that battery square in
the face, and that its last discharge was right over our
heads, almost in our faces. I remember that after the
gallant Confederates had done their best, one brave feHow
would neither run nor surrender, but stood there laying
about him .with his ramrod. I had fired the last two

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY lOI
shots of my revolver at him and had begged him to sur
render, but his only reply was a swinging sweep of his ram
rod, which was dodged. Then a hand reached over my
shoulder, somebody said, 'Captain, let me at him,' a pistol
was fired close beside me, and turning I saw Colonel Mer-
riH, smoking revolver in hand. In a few minutes the gun
ners were overcome, and the battery and the position were
ours. "In the charge up the hill I had lost my cap. While we
were cheering over the capture of the guns. Lieutenant
Colestock jumped up on one of them and waved his cap
and cheered. Then noticing I was bareheaded, he leaped
down, picked up a cap from the ground, placed it on my
head and began cheering again. A moment later he re
ceived the shot which in a few days terminated his life.
"And now while wounded men are being cared for,
while prisoners are being taken to the rear, while there is
great jubilation and enthusiasm among the victors, occurs
one of those awful inexplicable errors, one of those fearful
mistakes, one of those real horrors of war, so calculated
to unnerve the bravest and to demoralize, for the time
being, the best drilled and discipHned troops. A second
Federal line of battle, advancing to the support of the first,
comes crashing through the brush in the rear. At the
same instant the Confederates having been rallied and
re-formed in another line of works, pour a deadly voHey
into the ranks of the brave men who are cheering over the
guns they have captured. The second Hne of Federals,
partially encountering the rebel fire, deliver a volley and
the soldiers of the first Hne, who had led the charge, who
had driven the enemy and captured the guns, are literally
caught between two fires. The scene — the terror of the

I02 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
moment is beyond description. The cry went up: 'Our
own men are firing into us.' When the panic was at its
greatest, one or two officers who were in the captured
redoubt shouted the command, 'Lie down!' and about one
hundred and fifty men crouched behind the earthworks
containing the guns, and began skirmishing with the
enemy. While we were lying there Captain H. M, Scott
came to me and we looked over the situation together.
We agreed it was best to stay there and hold the guns in
case the enemy tried to retake them by sortie. According
ly I took command of the force to the right of the lunette.
"About nine o'clock we could see by the Hght of burn
ing brush the Confederates cHmbing over the breastworks
and forming for an attack. Word was passed along to
reserve fire for the command. They advanced cautiously
within a few yards of the guns, when the command, 'Fire!'
was given, every rifle rang out, and at the same time the
advance guard gave a yell. That yell was taken up by our
forces in the rear and the Confederates broke and ran, evi
dently thinking Hooker's whole Corps was 'up and at
'em.' And that was the end of the battle of Resaca."
Captain Carson: "After the capture of the battery Com
pany G occupied a position to the left and a Httle to the
rear of lunette, where we guarded the guns that afternoon
and kept the rebels behind their works by constant firing.
Other regiments and brigades followed us in quick suc
cession, but none went beyond the estabHshed lines we
were holding before their arrival. I well remember some
of the regiments opened fire in our rear, exposing us for
some time to a double danger. Charge after charge was
made during the evening, but no one went farther than
did the assaulting column. Many men from other regi-

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 103
ments, however, took positions with us during the even
ing and assisted in guarding and holding the captured
guns. "Late in the afternoon, as there seemed to be enough
troops to hold the line, Colonel Harrison quietly passed
the word for those who could to retire to the rear, for the
purpose of drawing rations, since we had been marching
and fighting all day without anything to eat. As the com
mand did not reach my company, Colonel Harrison sent
for me about sunset and said that the officers of the Twen
tieth Corps had been consulting together on a plan to
remove the guns from the lunette after dark. He stated
that he believed I understood the situation as well as any
one, so he would detail my company to report to Colonel
John Coburn soon after dark, who would have command
of two hundred men equipped for cutting through the
lunette and for pulling the guns down the hiH into our
lines. He said also: 'I claim for the regiment the honor
of having captured those cannon, for the rule is that the
column first entering the works and seizing and holding
a position beyond which no one passed is entitled to the
credit. I reported, as ordered, with fifty-five men, assisted
to repulse the enemy three different times whfle we were
at work, and the removal of the guns was successfully ac
compHshed before midnight."
Captain B. L. Ridley, C. S. A., of General Stewart's
staff, quite naturally does not appreciate General Sherman,
yet in the Confederate Veteran of January, 1897, giving
his experience in this battle, says: "There was one place,
though, where Sherman, had he been the able general
many supposed, would have taken some of Johnston's
glory from him. The only time he ever got Johnston ap-

I04 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
parently in 'a nine hole' was at Resaca, on May fifteenth
1864." Carter L. Stevenson, Major General: "Corput's bat
tery was placed in position at the only available point. It
had hardly gotten into position when the enemy hotly en
gaged my skirmishers, driving them in and pushing on to
the assault with great impetuosity. So quickly was aH
this done that it was impossible to remove the artiHery."
J. B. Hood, Lieutenant General: "During the attack
on General Stevenson a four-gun battery was in position
thirty paces in front of his line, the gunners being driven
from it, and the battery left in dispute. The army with
drew that night, and the guns without caissons or limber
boxes were abandoned to the enemy, the loss of life it
would have cost to withdraw them being considered worth
more than the guns."
In his report on giving up command at Atlanta, J. E.
Johnston, General: "We lost no material in the retreat
except the four field pieces mentioned in the accompany
ing report of General Hood."
James H. Turner, Indiana MiHtary Agent: "I met Gen
eral Butterfield the next morning on the battlefield, before
the dead were collected for burial. He told me to say to
Governor Morton and the people of Indiana, 'That the
Seventieth Regiment has done its whole duty. Not a man
from the Colonel down flinched, but marched up to the
breastworks and over. One gunner was shot in applying
the match.' "
The following is an extract from a letter said to have
been picked up the day after the battle, which, of course,
never reached its intended desrination: "The Yankees
charged my battery and captured two sections. It was a

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 105
daring exploit. They threw themselves into the fort, as
unconscious of danger as so many ducks into a pond. It
was Hooker's command we had to fight here, or else the
battery would never have been taken. They aH wore a
star. Your husband unto death, "M. V. CORPUT."
Z. S. Ragan, Major Seventieth Indiana: "A detail of
three hundred men was made from the First Brigade and
placed under my command, with orders to collect the
arms, accoutrements, ammunition, artiHery, etc., and turn
them over to the Ordnance officer at Resaca, Being limited
as to time it was impossible to make a thorough search,
yet I turned over and took a receipt for four twelve-pound
pieces of brass artHlery, nine hundred smaH arms and fifty
thousand rounds of ammunition. The wagons arriving in
advance of me, had been unloaded before my arrival, but
were estimated to contain a similar number of small arms
and sixty thousand rounds of ammunition. I could not
obtain a receipt for these, as I was unable to count them."
The sixteenth of May was a sad day for our regiment.
Twenty-six of our number had sacrificed their lives, and
one hundred and thirty had been seriously wounded,
many mortally, in this Sabbath day's "baptism of fire." It
was a strange grave by which the surviving members stood.
It was six feet long and sixty wide. Into this, side by side,
with blankets for winding sheets, were lowered the forms
of those who had just died for their country. Evergreen
branches were tenderly dropped on the sleeping patriots,
to break the fall of the clods, and as a token that their
sacrifice would ever be green in the memory of their com
rades. With heads uncovered the mourners gathered

Io6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
about the grave. The Captains of the companies cast in
the first earth, and the Chaplain prayed that the sad tidings
might not crush the hearts of the mothers, the widows and
the orphans. The sinking sun closed the mournful day,
and the dead were left to sleep in their glory, whfle to the
living remained the stern duty of pursuing through the
night the retreating battalions of the enemy.
General Orders No. 4.
Headquarters Third Division Twentieth Corps.
Resaca, May i6th, 1864.
The Major-General commanding feels it a duty as well as
a pleasure to congratulate the division upon its achievements
yesterday. The gallant assault and charge of the First Bri
gade, capturing four guns in the enemy's fort; the support of
this assault by a portion of the Second Brigade, the splendid
advance of the Third Brigade on the left, with the glorious
repulse it gave twice its force, proves the division worthy a
high name and fame. Let every one endeavor by attention to
duty, obedience to orders, devotion and courage to make our
record in future, as in the past, such that the army and the
country will ever be proud of us.
By command of Major-General Butterfield.
JOHN SPEED,
Assistant Adjutant-General,
Headquarters Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
In the field near Cassville, Ga., May 20, 1864.
General — In obedience to your orders, I have the honor to
submit the following report of the part taken by my regiment
in the operations of our forces from the 13th to the 19th in
clusive :
On the 13th I moved about four mdes from Snake Creek
Gap, having the advance of the brigade, and under orders
from you formed line of battle on the Resaca road and moved

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 107
up to the crest of the ridge, connecting on the right with
the forces under the command of General McPherson, and
having on my left one regiment of our brigade (One Hundred
and Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry), which, with my
regiment, constituted our front line, and was placed by you
under my command. Skirmishers were thrown out to cover
the front of the line, and every preparation made for a proper
advance when the order should be received. Almost imme
diately after we had taken position, the line on our right
(General McPherson) was advanced and soon became en
gaged with the enemy, but suffered no loss. About 4 P. M,,
by your orders, our line was advanced, changing direction
gradually to the left, and, having emerged from the timber,
was massed on the left of General Harrow's line, who was
still skirmishing with the enemy. Shortly after dark we
again changed position, relieving the regular brigades of
the Fourteenth Army Corps. My regiment was here located
on the right of our brigade line and along the crest of a hill,
with a meadow of about six hundred yards in width in front
and extending from the base of the hill occupied by me to a
hill opposite, which was strongly fortified and occupied in
force by the enemy. As soon as day dawned on the 14th
inst., a sharp fire was opened by the rebel sharpshooters on
my skirmishers, which was kept up quite briskly during the
day, inflicting some loss on my regiment. Early in the day
of Saturday, the 14th inst., instructions were received from
your headquarters that we would be ordered to assault the
works in our front at some time during the day, and orders
were also given by you to strengthen the line. In compliance
with the order, I deployed Company D of my regiment, Cap
tain Tansey, relieving the skirmishers under Captain Carson,
who had been placed upon the line the preceding night, and
a few hours subsequently communicated to Captain Tansey
an order received from your headquarters to advance his
skirmishers, which was promptly, though cautiously done,
the men avaHing themselves of such meager shelter as the
open field afforded. About i P. M., and whde our Hne was

Io8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
resting behind the crest of the hill to avoid a troublesome
fire which the rebel sharpshooters continued to pour in upon
the crest, the "Attention" was sounded in the regiment on my
left and was repeated in my regiment. Not having received
any intimation of what movement was intended, I called to
Brigadier-General Ward, who at the moment approached my
left, to know what the orders were. His reply was "The or
ders are to advance." Knowing that an assault on the works
in our front had been in contemplation earlier in the day, and
supposing that the order involved such an assault, or at least
that it involved an advance until a halt was ordered by the
brigade commander, I put my regiment in march when the
regiment on my left moved and passed over the crest of the
hill, down its slope to a fence at its base, where I had pre
viously instructed my officers to halt for a moment to reform
their line, as they would necessarily be much broken in pass
ing down the hiH, which was very steep in some places. Un
der the cover of the fence I halted, and passed an inquiry to
my Major, who was on the left, to know whether the One
Hundred and Second IHinois was stiH advancing with me.
His answer was that this regiment had halted on the crest of
the hill. After some time I was given to understand by one of
the brigade staff, calling to me from the summit of the hiU,
that it was not intended that I should pass the hill, but that I
should have halted on the crest, which had not been previously
explained to me. By retiring the men singly or in small
squads, I was able without further casualties to resume our
former line behind the crest of the hill. My losses during
the day were as follows: On the skirmish line, killed, enlisted
men, i ; wounded, enlisted men, 3 ; in advancing over the crest
of the hiH to our supposed assault, kiHed, enlisted men, 2;
wounded, enlisted men, 10; wounded. Lieutenant Martin,
Company I, slightly in the leg. During the night of Satur
day, the 14th inst., under orders, I constructed, with the as
sistance of Lieutenant Gilchrist and brigade pioneers, a line
of rifle pits along the front of my line, and had moved in at
daylight four companies to occupy them as sharpshooters and

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY 109
watch the enemy, when we were suddenly relieved by another
brigade and marched around to a new position on the left of
the Fourteenth A. C. In our new position we were informed
that our brigade, supported by the other brigades of our di
vision, was expected to assault the enemy's rifle pits, and
without delay our brigade was formed in column of battalions
in order of rank. My regiment leading, passed from the crest
of an entrenched ridge, occupied by our forces, across an
open field in the valley and up a steep and thickly wooded
hill to the assault of the enemy's breastworks, whose strength,
and even exact location, was only revealed by the line of fire
which, with fearful destructiveness, was belched upon our ad
vancing column. I moved my men at double quick, and, with
loud cheers, across the open space in the valley in order
sooner to escape the enfilading fire from the enemy's rifle pits
on our right, and to gain the cover of the woods, with which
the side of the hiH against which our assault was directed, was
thickly covered. The men moved on with perfect steadiness,
and without any sign of faltering up the hillside and to the
very muzzle of the enemy's artillery, which continued to belch
their deadly charges of grape and canister until the gunners
were struck down at their guns. Having gained the outer face
of the embrasures, in which the enemy had four 12-pounder
Napoleon guns, my line halted for a moment to take breath.
Seeing that the infantry supports had deserted the artillery
I cheered the men forward, and, with a wild yell, they entered
the embrasures, striking down and bayoneting the gunners,
many of whom defiantly stood by their guns till struck down.
Within this outer fortification, in which the artillery was
placed, there was a strong line of breastworks which was con
cealed from our view by a thick pine undergrowth, save at
one point, which had been used as a gateway. This line was
held by a rebel division of veteran troops, said to be of Hood's
command. When we first entered the embrasures of the outer
works, the enemy fled in considerable confusion from the
inner one, and had there been a supporting line brought up in
good order at this junction, the second line might easily have

no THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
been carried and held. My line having borne the brunt of
the assault, it was not to be expected that it could be reformed
for the second assault in time. The enemy in a moment ral-
Hed in rear of their second Hne, and poured in a most destruc
tive fire upon us, which compeHed us to retire outside of the
first line to obtain the cover of the works. At this point
some confusion was created among our forces in and about
the enemy's works (several of our battalions in rear of me
having come up) by a cry that the enemy was flanking us.
This caused many to retire down the hiH, and had for a time
the appearance of a general retreat. I strove in vain to rally
my men under the enemy's fire on the hiHside, and finally
followed them to a partially sheltered place behind a ridge
on our left, where I was engaged in separating my men from
those of other regiments and reforming them preparatory to
leading them again to the support of those who stiU held the
guns we had captured, when I was informed that General
Ward was wounded, and was ordered to assume command of
the brigade and reform it, which duty I discharged, and then
urgently asked General Butterfield for permission to take it
again to the works we had carried and still held, and bring off
the guns we had captured. This was refused, and by his
order the brigade was placed in a new position on a hill to
the left of the point at which we had assaulted, to assist in
repelling an attack made by the enemy. To sum up the ac
count of the day's fight, I wiH add that detachments from my
regiment and, I believe, from each of the other regiments of
the brigade, held the rebels from re-entering and taking the
guns we had captured, until they were brought off at night
by a detail from the First and Second Brigades. I would re
spectfully call your attention to the following points: First,
my regiment entered the enemy's works in advance of all
others, and my colors, though not planted, were the first to
enter the fort; second, the enemy's lines were not penetrated
at any other point than where we entered, although, assaulted
by other troops on the left; third, my regiment, being in ad
vance, and having to bear the brunt of the assault, accom-

IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY III
plished all that could have been required of them in entering
the works and driving the enemy out. The work of carrying
the second line of defense belonged to the support which fol
lowed me. The day following the battle my regiment, to
gether with our whole brigade, remained on the battlefield,
burying our own and the rebel dead, and coHecting abandoned
arms and other property. Leaving the battleground about 5
P. M. of the 1 6th, we rejoined the division at  MiU. In
the engagement with the enemy near Cassville on the 19th
inst., my regiment was under quite a heavy fire of shell, but
suffered no loss. I append a list of kiHed and wounded in
my regiment, which shows twenty-nine men killed, four offi
cers and one hundred and forty men wounded. Total, one
hundi'ed and seventy-three.
I desire, in conclusion, to acknowledge the gallantry of my
officers and men. Though never before under fire, they have
the testimony of the veteran foe they overcame that they bore
themselves with conspicuous courage. I could not, of course,
observe every individual act of gallantry on the part of my
company officers, but must commend to your notice the fol
lowing as especiaHy worthy of mention for their determined
and successful efforts to hold the captured guns: Captain
Wm. M. Meredith, Captain H. M. Scott, Lieutenant M. L.
Orr, Captain P. S. Carson, Captain H. M. Endsley, Lieutenant
Wm. C. MitcheH, Lieutenant E. B. Colestock. Captain Tan
sey, who was severely wounded, also bore himself most gal
lantly. Lieutenant C. H. Cox, Acting Adjutant, was con
spicuous for his coolness and his efforts to rally the men.
Lieutenant-Colonel Merrill and Major Regan did their whole
duty, and have need of no higher praise from me. Dr. Jen
kins A. Fitzgerald, assistant surgeon during all our series of
operations, was always found with his regiment, dressing the
wounds of those who had faHen under the heaviest fire of the
enemy, manifesting a thorough disregard of his own safety
in his humane desire to give the wounded the promptest sur
gical relief. Rev. A. C, Allen, chaplain, deserves mention for

112 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
his untiring labors night and day to relieve the wants and
suffering of our wounded.
I am, General, with the greatest respect, your obedient
servant,
BENJ. HARRISON,
Col. Seventieth Indiana Vol. Inf.
Brigadier-General W. T. Ward.
Commanding First Brigade Third Division Twentieth
A. C,

CHAPTER VIII.
MARCHING AND FIGHTING
There was much satisfaction when men were detaded
from the Seventieth Indiana to convey and deliver the
captured cannon to the Ordnance officer, but the night
march of the sixteenth and of the following day was made
amid profound sHence, for we were aH thinking of our
dead. On the seventeenth the regiment was where it could
again hear the whizzing of bullets, and on the nineteenth
approached CassviUe. By some mistake the Brigade took
the wrong road, and the troops, as J. M. WiHs expressed it,
"Were pressed up so close to the enemy that we were
almost surrounded by Wheeler's cavalry. Orders came for
us to march to the rear at trail arms and for no one to
speak above a whisper."
U. H. Farr describes the action of the Brigade after it
had moved to the right and back a mile or more and saw
demonstrations that indicated not only an attack by the
cavalry but also by a heavy mass of infantry: "The word
went like a flash along the line to throw up a barricade.
Every fence rail, log, chunk and movable thing within
reach was instantly appropriated to that purpose, and then
the men set to work digging dirt with the bayonet, and
scooping it up with frying pans, hands, or anything that
could be put to that use, while a strong force was sent out
in front to level all the fencing, that the advancing enemy
might have no protection in the coming contest.
"Meanwhile the dense columns of rebel gray, un-
113

114 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
checked by the torrent of shells from our two batteries,
had reached the valley and formed in line, massed so as to
crush all opposition. They were advancing slowly in the
center, but strong bodies of men were being pushed out
more rapidly from either flank, thus making it plain that
they intended to envelop us, AH of our men but the
skirmishers were now called in, every man was given
twenty rounds of cartridges extra, making sixty rounds
each, and ordered to get ready for action. Cartridge and
cap-boxes were unclasped and slipped to the front of the
body so as to be convenient; the commands were given
and passed along the lines to aim accurately and reserve the
fire till the enemy were close at hand.
"At this moment when within musket-shot of our posi
tion, the approaching mass of rebel troops seemed to be
affected as if by a convulsion. Someone cried out, 'Look
to the right!' and there column after column came march
ing into view, facing in the same direction we were, their
bright guns shining in the sun, the Stars and Stripes float
ing above them. The rebel hosts sullenly but rapidly re
tired to the wooded hiH from whence they came, and after
some fighting left CassviHe in our hands."
Ex-President Harrison, in a recent address, referred to
this same wonderful scene: "The army of Sherman had
been fighting in the chaparral, in the brush, so that it
was a rare sight for a man on the right of a regiment to
see the flag, and quite out of our experience to see the
regiment next to us. We had the faith that Sherman had
more men than just ourselves. We could occasionally
hear the rattle of guns away off to the right or to the left,
but one day when the army was advancing on CassviHe we
suddenly came out into one of the great meadows or savan-

MARCHING AND FIGHTING II5
nahs that stretch for miles along some of the smaller
streams, and the whole great army, corps on corps, was
revealed to us, banner after banner as it was kissed
by the sunshine of the open field. From the center, far
to the right and left, the distinctive corps, division, brigade
and regimental colors appeared, and associated with each
of these was the one flag that made the army one. A
mighty, spontaneous cheer burst from the whole line, and
every soldier tightened his grip upon his rifle and quick
ened his step. There was an inspiration in it. Our faith
had been strengthened by the vision of those who fought
with us for the flag."
Visions of vast armies cannot extinguish one's interest in
the individual who helps to make up the great host, so
Farr continues: "While we were lying in the valley near
CassvHle, I took a walk in the quiet woods away from
the camps; and when out quite a distance saw someone
sitting on a log with his back to me. He had his head
down as if in a deep study, one elbow resting on his knee,
and his face in his hand. I sauntered on in that direction,
and as I came nearer I thought I could recognize some
thing in the form that was famHiar. Without thinking of
what I was doing it for, I began to step lightly, and so
drew quite near. Ending it was an old friend, I reached
a position at his back, where I could see what it
was he was so attentively regarding. It was the picture of
a fair young woman. I stood for quite a while looking at
the spectacle. At last becoming ashamed of thus tres
passing on what was really a honeymoon scene, though one
of the parties was hundreds of miles distant in her Indiana
home, away from the noise and tumult of war and battle,
I slapped the absorbed figure on the shoulder, at the same

Il6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
time speaking to him. He sprang to his feet. In re
sponse to the question, 'What are you doing?' he said, 'I
was looking at a picture of my wife, the prettiest woman
God ever made.' "
At Cassville a letter was written by an officer to his
sister, which, taken in connection with the above scene,
shows that war reveals sharp contrasts. * * * "One
of the most faithful men in the regiment was mortally
wounded at Resaca, and died two days after the battle.
You remember his wife and Httle child. My God, what
a terrible thing war is! She must be very poor. Take ten
or twenty doHars for me, and use it in some way for the
benefit of the widow and the child."
Shortly after came back an answer to this letter :
"Your money is unspent, and you might have saved your
sympathy. Mrs.  heard the news of her husband's
death on Friday, mourned his loss on Saturday, and con
soled herself by marrying a stay-at-home patriot on Sun
day." It takes Byron and Scott combined to do justice to
the situation. "What a strange thing is man! and what
a stranger is woman!"
"Woman's faith and woman's trust.
Write the characters in dust."
J. M. WiHs: "After the enemy gave way at Cassville,
we went into camp until the twenty-third, when we moved
out and came up with the enemy, engaged him in fight
for half a day, and lost several good men."
J. L. Ketcham: "I was asleep in a fence corner the
other day, when a shell burst near me. Oh, but they are
wicked sounding things. They have an awful screeching,
whining tone and seem to say, 'You I'm after, nobody else;'

MARCHING AND FIGHTING I17
or, as the darky said, 'Wha's dat nigga? Wha's dat nigga?
I want dat nigga!' "
U. H. Farr: "On the afternoon of the twenty-fifth of
May it was manifest that a fight was imminent. Troops
were hurrying forward, couriers dashing hither and thither,
and there was a constant rattle of musketry in front, with
an occasional stray baH coming ba^'ck to where we were
slowly marching in column to the front on the sides of
the main road, in order that ordnance wagons and ambu
lances could have free passage. About three P. M. we
were hurried forward more rapidly, each of the regiments
of our brigade marching in column side by side at bat
talion front distance in order to be ready for instant use as
support for Coburn's brigade in our front. The rebel
line of battle could not be far away from the nearness
of the artillery fire of the enemy, the supporting line faring
about the same as the front line. Our line was thus
pushed up close to the enemy, which resulted in consid
erable fighting, lasting till dark, thebattle being known as
DaHas Woods or Pumpkin Vine creek,
"I had no gun this day, mine having been ruined by a
rebel bullet, but I determined to keep close up and pick
one up at the first opportunity. Henry C. Eaton was sick
and his gun was turned over to some man of the company
who had none, and Eaton was marching with me on the
left of our company. As the line of battle was pushed
closer and closer to the enemy, and the firing became
deadly. Colonel Merrill, who was in command of the regi
ment, noticed us, and riding to us ordered us to stop in
some place of safety (in some ravine we were passing),
stating that we were without arms and there was no use of
our endangering our lives. But that was not a part of

Il8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
our plan, so we did not stop, but as soon as he left us we
moved on with the command. After some half hour he
came back down the line again, and seeing us there,
peremptorily ordered us to stop, and pointing out a large
tree, ordered us to lie down there. We obeyed the order,
but discussed the project of keeping close up and if we
saw him again to hide; but we had noticed his eye flash
forth some fire, a thing not common to him, and we finally
decided that he meant that we should obey his order, and
that in aH probability he would punish us if we did not, so
we sat StiH. After we stopped, our command did not move
very far ahead, probably not more than half a mile, where
we found it early next morning.
"While we were lying there we were treated to some
of the scenes of the rear. I saw several men I knew from
another regiment, one of whom had been a neighbor and
schoolmate. He came rushing back, jumping down the
slope quite lively, and I said, 'Hello, Jim, what's the hurry?'
He checked his flight enough to say that in the advance
he had fallen down and hurt his leg, and of course, being
crippled, was hurrying to the rear ; but he was making good
time for a cripple. Perhaps the wind from the enemy's
sheHs and solid shots, which came with fearful velocity,
was helping to force him along.
"The second night, while everything was stiH and most
of the men were asleep, the enemy's batteries opened on
us and poured in a tornado of sheH for about an hour, and
as our batteries replied the din was terrific. The next day
we moved a little to the right and put up a line of works.
An old log cabin stood in a field some half-mile to the
right and front, and was occupied by sharpshooters, who
were doing much damage, but a cannon was brought to

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 1 19
the right of our regiment, and the old house was soon
knocked to pieces and the sharpshooters fled for their fives
amid a shower of bullets from our skirmishers and the
huzzahs of our line.
"We often listened to the fighting to our right or left,
first the cannonading, then a luH, then the hurrahing, some
times the shrill boyish rebel yell, sometimes the loud, full-
voiced, deep-toned, far-sounding chorus of Northern men;
then again the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, and
the awful suspense to the Hsteners. If, as the noise grew
feebler, we caught the welcome cheer, an answering shout
ran along to the right or left. But if the far-off rebel yell
told of our comrades' repulse, the sHence could be felt.
"About this time General Hooker was riding through
his corps, and as he passed through the Third Brigade, the
boys yelled 'Hardtack! Hardtack!' and as he came to our
brigade he heard the same complaining cry. He went to
Colonel Coburn and asked what it meant, and Coburn
told him our two brigades were out of rations and had
been for some time. There had been some mistake, per
haps; favoritism, perhaps, but be that as it may. Hooker
saw that things were righted and we were soon gladdened
with the sight of commissary wagons."
On May twenty-seventh Wm. J. Rouse of Company F
feH and the foHowing tribute to his memory is by Lieuten
ant Grubbs. It will be read with moist eyes by his com
rades: Bin Rouse was his name. He belonged to "Co. F,"
"greasy F," the boys caHed it, not that it was literally and
always greasy, but rather because in neatness and cleanli
ness it was not, in its early days, up to the high average

I20 XHE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
of the well-ordered regiment. He was the fat boy of the
company, jolly, sturdy, awkward and slow of motion, with
a round, good-humored, yet stoHd face, pale blue, expres
sionless eyes, a nose that was a cross between a Roman and
a pug. He was, perhaps, nineteen years old, a Shelby
county boy; had " 'nHsted," he said, "becoz he liked Old
Cap Ensley! the other boys were goin' " and he wanted "a
hand in savin' the Guverment,"
He was not gifted nor clever, was a rude, unlettered,
but not unmanly boy; brought up in poverty and in the
woods, he had few ideas or aspirations above duty, but
he had a large capacity for physical enjoyment, a nature
that was bubbling over with good humor, a courage that
was innate and marvellous and a readiness and willingness
for duty and service that, tested again and again, was
never strained and never faHed. He was the butt of many
a good-humored but rough joke; much merciless and even
spiteful raillery was vented upon him, and many a private
in the ranks and chevroned Sergeant and Corporal cursed
"Bill Rouse" because they dared not curse anybody higher.
Once, shortly after my assignment to the company, I inter
fered when I thought the rough jokes and ill usage ex
ceeded even the license of the camp, and shamed the big,
bearded men who were the chief offenders, and after that
Bin, wonderingly and hesitatingly took up with me, be
came my fast friend, my best man, my champion in the
quarters. Thenceforward he swore by the "Little Loo-
ten'nt," as he dubbed me, and would fight for me at the
drop of a hat and drop it himself. BHl was a forager of no
mean repute in an orderly regiment, and many a juicy
piece of pork or freshly cured ham I afterwards found in
my quarters that some wink of the eye or some artfuHy

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 121
dropped word told me I owed to BiH. Sometimes it was
a fowl that had unwisely roosted too low, sometimes de-
Hcious honey "snaked" from a gum securely hidden on
the back porch of some loyal (?) Kentuckian. On such
occasions I smiled and asked no questions. I knew it was
BiH. Naturally Bill Rouse was not a success in drill. He
was slouchy in walk, waddled around in ranks as clumsily
as the performing bear, took all his time trying frantically
to "catch step" and never knew where his gun was.
Around him in the ranks was always confusion, "cussin' "
and hflarity. He had difficulty in distinguishing "sup
port" from "right shoulder shift." When the command
came, "order arms," he would nervously "present." He
was always three motions behind in loading. So when
"Company F" went out to drill, Bill was often given "fa
tigue duty" on a convenient stump where he could deHght-
edly see the "boys" "double-quick," "wheel," "form
square," "He down," "advance firing," etc., or with some
comrades as luckless as himself he would be put in charge
of a Corporal and made to "mark time" and go through
the "manual."
But on a dangerous picket post or a hot skirmish line.
Bin Rouse was in his glory. There he seemed bubbling
over with high spirit. He was utterly indifferent to dan
ger. Proximity to the enemy seemed to bring out the
serenity and alertness of his nature. The whizz and zip of
a minie baH was music to his ear. He would watch for
a dangerous "Johnnie" as patiently as an Indian. A puff
of white smoke from the line in front, the glimpse of the
"boy in gray" brought his Enfield to his shoulder Hke a
flash. A moment it stood poised as his eye glanced along
the barrel and then "look out, Johnnie, there's death in the

122 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
air." When a truce was declared along the skirmish line
and Yank and Johnnie came out of their burrows and ex
changed sharp compHments and good-humored repartee
or traded rank Virginia for Uncle Sam's best coffee, BiH
was the joHiest of the crew. Lounging upon his rifle pit,
he could chaff the Johnnies to his own delectation and
much to their and our amusement. Many a gem of rude
wit and rough banter we then heard and enjoyed. BiH
would roar out a boisterous chaHenge to out-knock, out-
jump, out-shoot, out-wrestle, out-cuss, out-eat any Johnnie
from old Jeff down, and then exuberantly laugh at his
own conceit. Then suddenly changing to a most plaintive
tone, with a suspicion of tears in his voice, he would cry
out: "Say, Johnnies, why don't you'uns quit this foolish
ness? We'uns want to go home."
When he had spent his rough pleasantry he would throw
himself backward into his rifle pit, yelling as he went:
"Hunt your holes, Johnnies, shootin's goin' to begin."
Once upon a reserve picket post he lay down beside
me and with the stars looking down on us, he began in his
quaint, uncouth way to talk about the war. I can't teH
nearly all he simply and earnestly said to me that night, nor
frame it in his somewhat rude dialect, but it revealed to me
that in the heart of this rude, unlettered boy there burned,
upon a pure altar, the genuine fire of patriotism, that death
less love of home and country that has inspired the match
less deeds of the centuries. He could not have told what
patriotism was, he knew nothing of constitutions or human
rights, of Pilgrim or revolutionary fathers; he cared noth
ing for the woes of slavery; he had a natural antipathy for
the negro, but he loved the flag; he hated a rebel and
he was ready to die that the Union cause might triumph.

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 123
Very earnestly he said to me: "You won't beheve it, Loo-
ten'nt, but if 'twould end this thing I'd step out to-morrow
morning and let the rebs put a dozen holes through me."
I believe he meant what he said, and to-day I would match
the instructive spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice of this
unlettered boy against the most finished product of school
or university.
On the Atlanta campaign and to the hour of his death
Rouse was always on duty. He was never known to
answer "sick call," perhaps didn't even know the deHghts
of "quinine and Dover's." He seemed impervious to dis
ease, bullets and exposure and, the boys said, even gray-
backs couldn't make it pleasant for him. When it came
my turn to take charge of the detail for picket or the skir
mish Hne, I always saw BiH's smiling face in the ranks.
He would "swap" with any of the boys on such occa
sions. One day late in May or early in June, I cannot at
this date be more accurate, I had charge of the skirmish
ers and BiH was on the front Hne. The opposing works
were not far apart and the skirmish fines were pushed so
close that safety lay in closely hugging the ground and
the slightest exposure or want of caution meant death
or painful wounds. The shots came hot and fast and
vicious that day and they came to kHl. Between the lines
were open woods. About two o'clock that day I was skirt
ing the edge of the woods trying to inspect the skirmish
line and detect any change in the situation. As I neared
that portion of the line where BiH Rouse was stationed, I
heard his voice above the scattering shots. The first
words I could distinguish were: "You're afraid to, you
cowardly reb!"

124 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
"I ain't any more afraid than you are," came a voice from
the rebel line.
"Then why don't you stand out like a man and gim'me
a fair shot?" I heard BiH say.
"Why don't you?" came back the answer,
"I wiH if you'll gim'me a shot at you."
"AH right! Gim'me first shot?"
"Yes."
And then before I could realize what it meant or call a
warning word, I saw BiH Rouse, clad in blue, gun in hand,
rise up out of .his rifle pit, step out, stand erect, puH back
his coat from his broad breast and call out, "Shoot away."
I saw a flash, a puff of smoke, perhaps a hundred yards
away; saw the figure in blue throw up one hand, quiver
for an instant and then Bill Rouse sank down in his tracks.
I was by his side in a flash, knelt down, tore open his shirt
and saw at a glance that he was mortally hurt. His eyes
looked bravely into mine, a faint smHe flitted across his
face, he tried to speak, gasped and was dead. We carried
his body tenderly back into the lines. He was given a
hasty soldier's burial in the woods and left to sleep. I sup
pose no one has ever found his grave, but what matters it?
For I trust and believe that when, at last, the Great Father
of us all gathers his jewels, Bill Rouse wiH be among the
number. An officer writes. May thirtieth: "Even if one has to
remain quiet, the constant firing and the continued waiting
exhaust body and spirit. Scarcely a night passes without
an attack, and no words coined on earth can describe the
terrific nature of such affairs. One could hardly imagine
that the bursting of aH the fiends from the pit would be

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 125
able to create so fearful a confusion. I thought I had been
in some terrible thunder-storms, but I feel now like David
after he had taken the census, and was offered a choice of
punishments; I should rather fall into the hands of God
than of man. We are gaining very slowly. Indeed, our
regiment occupies the identical ground we seized about a
week ago."
June sixth, J. M, WiHs: "We went into camp near
the foot of Lost Mountain. It rained almost daily, and
we had to cut brush to sleep on in order to keep out of
the mud and water. While in this camp we were short of
rations, and the boys gathered waste corn around the
mules' feeding places, and after washing, drying and parch
ing, ate it."
Lieutenant Grubbs writes home, June seventh: "We
came into qur present position yesterday afternoon at one
o'clock, amid a beating rain, and from two o'clock until
night worked hard on entrenchments. By dark we had
strong and substantial breastworks. Batteries were placed
in position, troops were disposed for battle and everything
was admirably arranged to give a welcome and fitting re
ception to Johnston's army should it precipitate itself on
our corps. We are now upon the extreme left of our army
and somewhat detached, as we necessarily must be from
the remainder, we are probably in more danger of an at
tack than any other portion of it. So we march a part of
the day, drive in their skirmishers, until we gain a good
position, and then work like bees untfl we have strong
breastworks to protect us. We had pretty heavy skir
mishing during the afternoon, but towards night it grew
quiet. This morning there are occasional voHeys along

126 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the skirmish Hne, but as yet nothing indicates an engage
ment. "Since I wrote you last we have had a hard time. We
were reHeved in the center by the Fifteenth Corps on the
second of June, and since that time have been marching
and fighting every day. To add to our discomfort it has
rained torrents every day, until the roads have grown
frightful. For three days and nights we were wet to the
skin, not a dry article of clothing on us; each night our
beds were the wet and muddy ground, without even fires,
lest we should discover our position to the enemy. I never
knew what hardship was before. There is an intense mean
ing in that word now. How men can stand for week after
week what we have stood, I confess was a mystery before
this campaign commenced. But they do stand it cheer
fully and bravely. The only thing I have noticed
that can disturb their equanimity and set them to grum
bling is short rations. Let men be aH day and night on
the skirmish line without a thing to eat, or work all day on
entrenchments .without even a cracker, and if the most
patient and patriotic of them don't have something to say
in regard to it, I am mistaken."
A letter from J. L. Ketcham is dated Sunday moming,
June twelfth: "In the woods three mHes below Ackworth.
Rain! Rain! Rain! I never saw the like. Thunder-storm
after thunder-storm. Rain aH night. It was nine o'clock
this morning before it stopped long enough for me to
crawl out (the only way to get out of these little tents)
and make a cup of coffee. We were ordered to pack up
the other morning at daylight; just as we got ready, it
commenced to rain, and we waited and waited for further
orders aH day in the rain. The hardest rain I ever saw

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 127
fell the other day when our regiment was on picket, but
I'H give an account of the whole day. At dayHght we were
called up unexpectedly to be ready to march in ten min
utes. We were ready, and waited for two hours; couldn't
take off our things to get breakfast. At dinner time we
stacked arms, but couldn't leave ranks to get dinner. Rest
ing about an hour, we went several miles farther and put
up our tents for the night. Just got them up when an
order came for the whole regiment to go on picket. Then
the rain came down by the bucketful, and constant firing
was kept up all night. The supply train can't get up, and
we are on half rations. I have seen feHows offer twenty-
five and fifty cents for a hard tack. In passing a battery
near us yesterday I saw a fellow from our regiment picking
up a few grains of corn which a battery horse had left. We
are having rough times, sure! It won't last long, though,
and I don't mind it at all while I am well.
"We haven't been under fire now for several days,
though we can hear cannon now and then on our right.
We were under fire almost a month every day from the
tenth of May to the first of June, skirmishing or fighting.
We had over eight hundred men for duty at Wauhatchie,
and now haven't four hundred — ^half of us kiHed, wounded,
and played out. And this, I'm afraid, is only the begin
ning." On June fourteenth. Lieutenant Grubbs: "We are mud-
bound. Almost incessant rain for a week past has ren
dered the roads so near impassable that as unwieldy a body
as an army can scarcely move at all. I wish you could
have seen us in our camp, or rather stopping place, yester
day and day before. From morning to night there was
scarce a moment's cessation of rain; it overflowed our

128 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ditches and came streaming into our tents. Blankets, oil
cloths, clothes, and everything else were wet."
Several letters refer to the affair at Golgotha or New
Hope Church as an occasion when "The First Brigade went
out to feel the enemy and got felt." J. M. WiHs: "I
heard General Butterfield teH our brigade commander that
he wanted him to make a reconnaissance only, and let the
right of his brigade rest on the road that ran out toward
the enemy. The Seventieth was on the right and moved
off at the command, but had not gone far untH it found
the enemy's pickets in their pits. Then came the order
to charge double-quick, and with a Hoosier yell we went
for them, and for some minutes it was hard to tell who
would get in first, the rebs or the Yanks. In making
that charge our regiment was thrown to the right of the
road in an open field, and we pursued the enemy through
that field and into a wood within three or four hundred
yards of his breastworks, which were as strong as science
and labor could make them.
"When we came upon their abattis and chevaux de frise,
which were almost impassable, we halted. In a few
minutes the enemy began to pay us his respects with solid
shot, and kept it up until nightfall. Orders came for every
man to protect himself as best he could, so some lay flat
upon the ground, some behind chunks and logs and some
behind trees. We remained in that position for four long
hours, and had a number kiHed, and aH by solid shot from
the battery. When night came we were relieved by a
Michigan regiment, and, going to the rear, prepared some
thing to eat, then took up the march and were put to mak
ing works for our protection on the front Hne. I used

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 129
my bayonet to dig with, and others moved the dirt with
boards." U. H. Farr: "At Golgotha, or New Hope Church, we
were formed in line for an attack, and advanced across
undulating fields into rather thin woods. There we found
the rebel skirmishers in strong force, who fell back slowly,
loading and firing deHberately. At each report one of our
boys would faH, This was more trying to men's nerves
than being in battle, for there shot could be returned for
shot. When we came to where the bushes had been cut
down, and could see the top of the enemy's works. Col
onel Harrison commanded his regiment to fix bayonets
and said: 'Men, the enemy's works are just ahead of us,
but we will go right over them. Forward! Double-quick!
March!' Every man sprang forward with a yell, and we
soon came to a dirt road, where a terrific volley was fired
into us, from what we supposed was the reserved skir
mishers of the enemy. We saw the flash of their guns and
dropped to the ground, so the volley did us but Httle
harm. Then we were up and went forward with a rush and
a yell across a Httle field into another strip of heavy oak
woods. When close up to the chevaux de frise the enemy
opened on us from a battery, and continued to pour shot
and shell into us for several hours. We would await a
discharge from a cannon and instantly fire at the flash,
knowing from what we had seen of their works before,
that protecting sand-bags were arranged to fall as soon as
the cannon sprang back from the port hole. We did exe
cution with their gunners, as was seen by the pools of
blood where their guns stood when we occupied the works
two days later.
"We kept the fight going tiH it began to grow dusk.

I30 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
when the order was passed along the line to cease firing
and we were relieved by the Nineteenth Michigan. About
midnight we marched to the front again, going to the left
and taking position, then gathered logs and built breast
works. As soon as dayHght of the sixteenth came, the
enemy's skirmishers poured in such a terrific fire that our
skirmish line had to be reinforced. This skirmishing was
the most severe we experienced at any time on the Atlanta
campaign, and many of our men were killed or wounded.
Both fines being heavy, the contest was more like a battle
than a skirmish. Batteries, twelve guns in all, were placed
in our breastworks, and the uproar caused by their dis
charge and by the shells sent from the enemy made the
day long to be remembered."
Not far from Marietta, June nineteenth, Ketcham writes :
"We started on our journey again after the rebels, and on
the afternoon of the fifteenth got into a fight. We ran
on one of their strong forts, and how we ever got out
again is wonderful. They had eight guns playing against
our regiment. The shot and sheH were terrible, but only
some forty were wounded and a few torn aH to pieces.
Some had very narrow escapes. A buHet struck a spy-glass
in Major Pagan's pocket and afterward a cannon-ball cut
his belt in two, and only bruised him. One man had his
haversack torn all to pieces, another his gun bent like a
hoop. After dark we went back for ammunition. The
men had nearly all shot their sixty rounds. After mid
night we went forward again and built breastworks. All
day we fought behind our breastworks, and the rebels
behind theirs. The skirmishers out in front did most of
the fighting. We lost several wounded during the day.
I was making a detail, when a baH passed under my chin

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 131
and struck a man right by me. I have a baH in my pocket
now that hit me. It was a spent ball and didn't hurt.
"Toward evening the rebels opened eight guns on us
for about ten minutes, but did not hurt a man. Next day
the rebels fell back, and we followed, passing through the
fort. This fort was the strongest I ever saw. The rebels
had cut down trees in front, and sharpened every limb, so
that a rabbit could hardly have got nearer than ten feet.
We flanked them, though, and they had to skedaddle. That
day we had advanced in Hne of battle, but were not in
the front line. Had a rest that night and all the next day,
though it rained in torrents.
"To-day is shower and sunshine, and we are encamped
in an open field, the first time for nearly two months. Glad
to get out of the thick woods, where we were nearly tor
mented to death by bugs, ants, scorpions, snakes and
creeping things of every description. A black snake two
feet long came crawling up by my side one day while I
was lying in my tent. You better believe I jumped. One
ten feet long was killed not far from where I was sleeping."
J. M. WiHs: "From the seventeenth of June to the
twenty-first we slowly followed the retreating enemy, do
ing little but skirmish till we reached the base of Kenesaw
Mountain. On the twenty-third we moved to the right
through sparsely timbered ground nearly to the edge of a
cornfield, on the opposite side of which, a few hundred
yards distant, were the rebel works. We carried logs and
rafls through a field of dewberries, and the temptation was
great to pick the fruit, even though the sharpshooters were
doing their best to pick us off. With bayonets for picks,
hands and messpans for shovels, we soon had a good
strong line of works. The enemy came out on our right

132 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
in front of the Twenty-third Corps and gave battle. Gen
eral Butterfield's batteries, which we were supporting,
poured in shot and shell and the attack was soon over."
An officer writes: "In the midst of battle, June twenty-
seventh. A terrible fight is raging all along the line, but
as it is made our duty to hold the center and prevent the
enemy from breaking through, I can lie under the breast
works and beneath the flying balls and pencil a few lines to
you. We have rumors of our repulse on the left, but no
dependence can be placed on reports here, as every soldier
has his mouth and ears full of them.
"My experience leads me to beheve that about one-fifth
of the Confederates fight as well as our best troops, sur
passing us in bitterness and desperation, but on an average
our soldiers are much superior to theirs. In numberless
cases we have carried their works, but I have yet to learn
of one attack upon us in which they have been successful.
"It would be wise, however, to write little on this sub
ject, as we are in a position before which the enemy is
supposed to be massing his forces, and we may not be able
to hold our ground. It is hard to write, the battery we are
supporting keeps up such an uproar, almost lifting one's
scalp at each discharge. When the war ends I am going
to retire to the wilderness every Fourth of July to pre
vent myself from hearing the hideous noise made by ex
ploding gunpowder.
"Just as this point I had occasion to call out, 'Put on
your shirt and accoutrements, sir! This is no time to be
looking for vermin.' One of the horrors of this kind of
life is that the men's bodies and clothes are alive, and
nothing can be done to relieve them, as they have no
change of clothing and seldom have an opportunity to

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 133
bathe. The officer can escape the affliction, but the poor
private drags his tormented carcass in utter hopelessness
to the end of the campaign.
"Every man from Colonel down to private is broken
out horribly, and cannot enjoy a moment's rest for the
intolerable itching. Such things may appear only disgust
ing to you, but I consider them as constituting the chief
hardship of the soldier, and the man who endures them
for his country is worthy of the highest respect."
Again he writes, July first: "I had to laugh at Jane's
prescription for my health, in which she tells me to have
Jerry toast me a slice of bread, to take so much butter and
such a quantity of tea, and a little cinnamon, and, if ap
proved, a pinch of ground cloves mixed in a bowl. Bless
her kind, suggestive heart! Doesn't she know that from
bread to bowl we are lacking, and that she might as weH
prescribe ice cream to be eaten from a golden goblet, three
times daily? As for the pudding that we are to bake in a
skillet, tell her that our only cooking utensils are a fruit
can for coffee and a tin bucket in which Jerry fries the
meat. The bucket Jerry stole. He 'wasn't gwine to hab
everything stold from him and not have nothin' to cook
in.' "
U. H. Farr: "On July second an order came for the
skirmishers to be caHed in and for the men to load and
shoot from the works at the enemy's works, and this inces
sant fire was kept up for several hours. A little after mid
night on July third I was Hstening at the breastworks. The
stillness was oppressive. The firing along the fines had
been continuous for many days, but now aH at once an
ominous quiet had fallen. Suddenly the report of a rifle
rang out, and I heard a ball strike the rebel works plainly.

134

THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA

A man near them cried out, 'Don't shoot, I'm coming!'
Then for a few minutes everything was as still as if no hu
man being was within a thousand mHes. Then came
wafted across the cornfield the same voice, 'Where are you,
Yank? I'm coming.' Then the voice of the man who
shot, 'Here I am, lay down your gun and come on.' Then
the reb: 'AH right, I've laid it down. I'm coming!' After
four or five minutes the reb called, 'Where are you ?' and
was answered, 'Here!' and then he spoke out loud and dis
tinct, 'Why don't you all go on and take possession of the
works; there is no one in them. Our army left them hours
ago?' "Soon the camp was in a bustle, fires were burning,
breakfast was eaten, and before Hght a long line had
climbed over the enemy's breastworks and were hurrying
after the retreating foe. About a mile in rear of these
works we came to a log church, and some prisoners we
had taken told us that the day we fired from the works
some of the bullets came that far and kiHed some men,
showing that our rifles would throw baHs more than a mile
with sufficient force to kill.
"We were continually picking up stragglers who cam.e
out of the thickets or ravines and surrendered, saying they
had enough of the war, and that it was no use to fight any
longer. One can easily imagine how this cheered us, for
we saw the end coming, and the time approaching when
soldier life would be over and we could enjoy our peace
ful homes.
"A little before noon we came in collision with a rebel
battery stationed on a hill about a mfle distant. Battery
I, First Michigan, was brought up and placed on an ele
vation near an old cotton gin, and our brigade was formed

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 135
just behind it, so as to act as support in case of attack by
infantry. An artillery duel soon began, each side sending
sheHs into the other as fast as possible. The men from our
brigade were lying down some sixty feet behind the bat
tery, and the sheHs from the enemy's guns could be seen
for a half mfle or more before reaching us, coming gen
erally end over end. Many of them passed entirely beyond
us and stirred up the musicians, cooks and all who made
it a business to stay in the rear during a fight. Most of
the shells feH, however, among the battery men or horses,
or, passing them, dropped among the infantry. Occasion-
aHy a shell plowed under some of our boys who were lying
down, threw them into the air, and emerged from the
earth to burst in the rear. Things soon became exciting,
for the enemy was getting the range of our position, and
was cutting his fuses so accurately that nearly every shell
burst in our midst. Finally a shell penetrated a caisson
that was full of ammunition and caused it to explode, send
ing its contents in every direction, kiHing a man, a horse,
and wounding two men.
"General Hooker ordered up another battery, and
climbing into the cotton gin, field-glass in hand, began to
look over the position of the enemy's battery, and to see if
the shots from our guns feH right. The enemy saw him
enter the gin, and dropping a shell or two into it forced
him to evacuate it rapidly. As the duel was being too
much prolonged, another battery of our division was
brought up, soon ending the contest. Our column moved
forward at a rapid pace and went into camp at sundown.
The weather was very hot, and many of our men feH from
the ranks and were kept alive by their comrades pouring
cold water on their heads, then fanning and rubbing them."

136 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Lieutenant S. B. Robertson's diary: "We were awak
ened this moming at two o'clock and ordered to get break
fast and be ready to march at daylight, as the enemy had
left our front. We started about half-past five, and after
marching four miles came in sight of a battery which
shelled us. We got up a Michigan battery, which replied,
and when both parties ceased firing we advanced one-half
mile in a piece of woods to support another battery, which
had opened a brisk fire on the enemy. When the enemy
fell back our boys made coffee and resumed the march.
After marching and countermarching over every ridge in
Georgia, as it seemed to us, we found ourselves three miles
south of the point which we left in the morning, and
bivouacked about sunset. July fourth: At early dawn
the camps were enlivened by several bands playing the na
tional airs. In the evening we were again cheered with
music." Lieutenant Grubbs: "The enemy evacuated his strong
position on the night of the second of July, and on the
moming of the third we pursued. We passed through four
lines of works, the last two so strong and skillfully con
structed that it would seem no column could successfully
charge them. About four mHes out we came upon them
on a ridge with a battery planted and commanding the
road we were advancing upon. They opened upon us be
fore we got into position, and for a time hurried our move
ments up a little. But we soon got into line, put a battery
into position, and returned sheH for shell. For about an
hour it was an exceedingly hot place; shot and shell flew
over us and burst above us entirely too closely for our
comfort or content. We lay in column on the ridge of a
hiU and fortunately most of their balls either plunged into

MARCHING AND FIGHTING 137
the bank in front of us or passed screaming over us. Some
plowed up the ground among the ranks, but not a man of
the Seventieth was kHled. Two shells burst in our battery,
which we were supporting, killing one man and wounding
two others, together with several horses. I assure you it
was not a desirable place at aH. I could see the shell
passing as plainly as you can see a bird flying through the
air. But we soon routed them and pursued the march.
"I think their army is fast becoming demorafized. Up to
noon on the third I saw two hundred and fifty deserters,
all of whom came into the lines of our brigade. They
seemed as rejoiced as schoolboys on holiday, glad to get
out and glad to see our columns. We marched ten miles
on the third and went into camp at sundown. On the
fourth there was music and shouting and general rejoicing.
At three o'clock we were ordered forward, and after march
ing eight miles put up works. On the sixth we marched
six miles to our present position, within view from tree-
tops of Atlanta,"
U. H. Farr: "In some places along the Chattahoochie
River a truce would be arranged between the pickets, and
the men would trade rations. Our boys had coffee and
hardtack and the Rebs had tobacco and corn-bread, so
they would strip, find shaHow places, wade into the mid
dle of the stream and exchange."
Lieutenant Robertson: "Wednesday, July thirteenth,
Captain Sleeth went to corps sutlers and got four cans
of fresh peaches at one dollar and fifty cents per can. Sun
day, July seventeenth. The day is fine and bright. We
had our weekly inspection at eight o'clock, and divine ser
vice at nine, conducted by Chaplain Allen, who gave our

138 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
company four housewives, which were drawn for by lot
tery." Another officer writes: "I had a funny experience about
two o'clock on the morning of the twentieth, whfie I was
going around the picket lines as division officer of the day.
In making my way through the woods from one post to
another, I became confused and wandered between the
two fines untH I lost aH idea as to which was which. There
was no resource but, as the boys say, 'to chance it.' After
floundering about as quietly as possible, I came at last upon
some logs that certainly indicated a picket post. Creep
ing cautiously toward it with my pistol cocked, for I didn't
propose to be taken prisoner, I was chilled by seeing a
head, on which was a light-colored, broad-brimmed som
brero, such as the Southerners wear, rise from behind the
logs. The sentinel should have caHed 'Halt,' but I spoke
first: 'What regiment?' and my bones froze as he an
swered, 'Twenty-first Kentucky!' since for the instant Ken
tucky meant Confederate. Then, as the contrary thought
and hope flashed into my mind, flashed out, as I prepared
to shoot and run, 'What corps?' 'Fourth corps,' was the
reply. The chiH vanished, my bones grew warm as I calm
ly asked, 'Which way are the Twentieth corps pickets?'
However I could not keep from meditating on the bad
taste of a Union soldier wearing a hat taken from a dead
Confederate, and so giving me the worst scare of the cam
paign,"

SAMUEL MERRILL

CHAPTER IX.
THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK
On the seventeenth of July, 1864, our regiment moved
to the left and crossed the Chattahoochie river above Vin-
ing's Station, and about eleven o'clock on the twentieth
passed over Peach Tree Creek, a deep and muddy stream,
on a bridge of raHs and poles, and stacked arms in the
bottomland not far from the water. The men soon scat
tered, some getting dinner, some going to the creek, some
picking blackberries. About the middle of the aftemoon
the skirmishers on the hill in front began to fire at a furious
rate, and some of our men who had gone up to get a
view of the enemy came hurrying down the hiH at a break
neck pace. Everybody in our command was rushing into
line, the officers calHng to men, "Fall in! FaH in!" and
the men exclaiming, "O God, boys, they are out of their
works! We've got 'em now!"
Then came the order, "Forward, double-quick!" and off
we rushed. We could see the skirmish line doubling its
efforts in loading and shooting from behind the few rails
used for protection. Just as we reached the top of a low
ridge, about one-third as high as the big hHl and paraHel
to it, and were about two-thirds of the way from the creek
to that hill, we saw the collision between the Confederates
and our skirmishers, the latter being forced back, loading
and firing as they yielded. The One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth Illinois was formed in front of the Seventieth Indi
ana, but when it had passed over the ridge down into a
ravine, we fired a volley over its head and lay down. As
139

I40 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the enemy, attracted by the fact that our division was the
only one unprotected by breastworks, came rushing over
the hiH, the IHinois troops obfiqued to the right and gave
the Indiana men a chance to move forward, Down the
ridge we went, through the sassafras bushes, over a gully
some four feet wide and seven feet deep, up the high hiH,
on the top of which were the piles of rails thrown to
gether by the skirmishers. The Confederate Hne broke in
our regimental front and fled down the hiH, but on the
right a few hundred of the enemy made a determined fight
to stem the tide of the brigade's advance. There is a
struggle for and the capture of flags by the regiments of
our brigade to the right, and then the hand-to-hand con
test is over.
As our adversaries hastened down the hiH and through
a wide field in the direction of Atlanta, voHey after voHey
was poured after them, dotting the field with the dead and
dying. Along the slope of the hill inclining toward the
city, deep gutters had been washed by the rains, and the
foe had hidden in them as a protection from the infantry.
Some of these washes were subjected to an enfilading fire
from the batteries. The next day these ravines were found
to be filled with the mangled remains of Confederate sol
diers. A retreating regiment left a flag with the staff stuck
in the ground about a quarter of a mile in our front. As
night approached a couple of our men added it to the six
already captured by the Third Division. In the course
of the afternoon as the supply of ammunition ran low,
men from each company were sent to the ordnance wagons
in the rear for boxes of cartridges. We had seen famish
ing men crowd for food and water, but now there was a
greater rush for powder and ball. As soon as the enemy

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 141
had been driven from the top of the hill every rail and
chunk that could be found was used to form a breastwork.
Just after the Seventieth had won its final position on
Peach Tree Heights, while the rattle of musketry was al
most drowned in the awful roar of the artHlery, for it was
not only "cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them,"
but cannon behind them also, firing over their heads, an
aide came dashing up to the officer in command of the
regiment, exclaiming, "General Sherman sends word,
'Hold your ground and he wiH take Atlanta before sun
down.'" The response was: "We'H die right here," which
doubtless voiced the determination of every man who held
that hiH. The men were ready for the sacrifice, but many
more patriots than compose a regiment gave their lives
before Atlanta fell.
The scenes of the battlefield are never to be forgotten.
The Mexican war veteran, Captain Carson, empties his
pistol at the enemy after he had aligned his company, and
exclaims as the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth obliques
to the right and gives the left wing of the Seventieth free
dom to move: "Colonel, can't we go forward?" Captain
Endsley, another Mexican veteran, shouts, "The day is ours,
but keep back there on the left." Captain Matlock laugh
ingly answers an anxious inquiry as he is assisted from the
field: "Yes, hit just as I expected." Matthias Stuck, faint
from the uphill race and from the sight of a dead comrade,
asks the officer in command of the regiment to let him
shift his position, so that his head may be shaded by a
sassafras bush, but is restored to his senses by a buHet
through the leg, so as to be able jokingly to ask
if he can't find a shade a little farther back. Captain Mere
dith, who ought to be in the hospital, moves at the head

142 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
of his company with countenance in which pain and tri
umph mingle. Acting Adjutant Cox, beautiful as a girl,
brave as a Hon, rushes through the left of the IHinois regi
ment to the hilltop, his form as he reaches the crest out
lined against the sky, waves his hat exultantly, and beck
ons a command "Forward!" for no voice could be heard in
the uproar. Hundreds of brave names and brave incidents
would be mentioned, were memory caHed on to tell all the
occurrences of that eventful afternoon.
Captain Meredith: "A few days before the battle of
Peach Tree Creek, while the regiment was advancing in
line. Private Matthias Stuck was discovered loitering in
the rear gathering dewberries, which were plenty, ripe and
luscious. I spoke to him, 'Stuck, what are you doing
there? Step up to your place in the ranks; we may be
engaged directly.' Stuck arose from his knees, holding his
gun with his left hand; he had been gathering berries with
his right, and said, with a salute, 'I'll get right into my
place, Captain,' Just then a stray bullet from the rebels
whirred along, grazed Stuck's leg between knee and thigh,
and punctured his trousers. 'GoHy,' said he. 'Look at that,
Captain !' 'Yes, I see, sir,' I replied. 'If you had been at
your place in the ranks you wouldn't have got that.'
'That's so,' said Stuck, and cheerfully joined his company.
Shortly after we encountered the enemy's fire I saw Stuck
holding his gun in his left hand, using it as a cane, while
he was making a tourniquet of his right. There was a
fearful buHet hole in his leg. 'Yes, I see that you are
wounded,' I exclaimed, as the soldier approached. 'Get
down to the hHl in the rear as soon as you can and be cared
for.' But the soldier continued to approach, halted, bowed
and said, 'I just wanted to teH you. Cap, that if I had been

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 143
back there gathering dewberries I wouldn't have got this.' "
It is possible that the shot that found him under the sassa
fras bush would have missed him in the ranks.
Those who have read the "Red Badge of Courage" can
easily see where the author got his idea of a battle, not in
the front line, but in the rear. The hillside and valley be
hind the advancing lines were alive with non-combatants,
cowards, cooks, and mules laden with frying pans, rushing
wHdly from the impending storm. Juniper, the cook for
Company B, was a powerful negro. He could take a barrel
of whisky by the chines and drink from the bung. It was
amusing to hear him teH how his long legs helped him to
beat the Fourth Corps down "dat ar hiH. No, sir! Didn't
see no Seventieth Rigement boys runnin'. When I struck
de crick I runned out on a long log and jumped, but went
chock in de mud way 'bove my knees. Didn't have no
time to HP one foot tiH a soger, and den a nigga, fit wif
bof feet on my back, and went a flyen to de shore. Dar
dis chile war stuck in de mud, playen leap-frog wid dat
ar whole coah,"
J, H, Kelly: "We advanced in two lines, the One Hun
dred and Twenty-ninth Illinois in our front. Just as the
Seventieth reached the top of a low ridge and the One
Hundred and Twenty-ninth a small ravine in our front
the enemy came pouring over the hill. Both regiments
opened fire, the one In front from the ravine, and the
Seventieth from its more exposed position on the ridge.
The rebel lines continued to advance in face of our two
fines of fire. The lay of the ground enabled the second
line to fire over the heads of the first. The rebels were
losing heavily, and began to halt, waver, kink up, and
finally break for the rear. Their front Hne in going back

144 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
broke up their two rear lines; so there was a complete rout.
In the morning we gathered and buried sixty rebel dead in
a space the length of our regiment."
An officer writes home: "As twilight crept slowly over
the scene, the hideous clamor of battle ceased, and a won
drous quiet took possession of the hillside. Men in low
tones inquired of the wounded and spoke of the dead. In
every heart was a strange conflict, exultation over the vic
tory and grief over the fallen. I had been in charge of
the pickets of our division the day and night before, and
now 'gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse, was frighted and
would not steep my senses in forgetfulness.' AH night
long I sat on an ammunition box looking out toward
Atlanta, so near and yet so far, or up to the stars, chiHed
by the unpitying way they held themselves aloof from the
awful suffering beneath. In long lines on either side of
me lay the exhausted heroes wrapped in their blankets,
but clinging to their rifles. In the solemn stillness of mid
night, questions never answered came with overwhelming
power. Why are men forever dashing themselves against
and over the breastworks that separate life from death?
Why should these youthful sleepers, many of whom, with
all their manliness, have not yet entered on manhood, fling
all away and rush into the unknown? Why, amid death
scenes that should be terrifying, and carnage that is re
volting, is one lifted up into a thrilHng consciousness of
immortality? Mystery of mysteries, all is mystery."
Color Sergeant Frank H. Huron: "As soon as the dark
ness stopped the firing, I took my canteen and those
of two dead men lying beside me, and filling them from
the little brook in our rear, went to the wounded rebels in
our immediate front, who were crying for water. After

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 145
a few trips I found myself perhaps two hundred yards in
advance of our line, giving water to one whose feeble cry
had drawn me to him. While he was drinking I heard the
click of a musket, and turning quickly, saw by the stariight
a man not twenty feet away, half hidden in a ditch washed
out by the rains, with bayonet fixed and gun leveled at me.
To say that I abhorred a man who would shoot another
whHe he was giving water to his wounded comrades is
putting it too mHdly. I wanted to kiH him so bad that
I could taste it, but just then a faint voice behind him
caHed, 'For God's sake, somebody give me a drink of
water,' and my decision was made in a moment. I would
go to the man who was ready to shoot me, as if he were
the one who was calling, give him a canteen, and while he
was drinking, would snatch his gun, whirl it round, and if
he didn't surrender, bayonet him before he could dodge.
He left his bayonet pointing toward me until I was almost
against it, then drew it to one side, when I saw there were
two others beside him squatted down in the ditch with
guns in their hands and bayonets fixed, and I knew they
intended to take me in. One canteen was empty, so I
could not get the three drinking at once, but I handed
them the two containing some water, thinking one of them
at least would lose his gun while drinking, and if they kiHed
me I would first get one or more of them. Death was
better than AndersonvHle. But they began drinking, hold
ing their guns on the other side of the ditch, with the third
man watching. Just then the weak voice behind them
called again, 'Oh, for one drink of water, water, water!' I
called to him I would bring him some, and asked them not
to drink it aH, and I would bring them some more (but I
didn't intend to do it). They left a little in one canteen.

146 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
and I went past them to the other man, thinking to get his
gun, but he had none in sight. Then I decided to make
a zig-zag run for our Hne and risk them hitting me, but as
the man drained the last drop and begged for more, I
promised to return as soon as I could fill the canteens, and
started back past them, thinking it safer to make them
beheve I was coming back with more water than to run.
"Just as I got to them an impulse seized me to take them
in. So I began telling them, if they were not too badly
wounded, I could help them in to our surgeons, who would
take as much pains with them as with our own soldiers;
and of our hospital suppHes, especially the good eating,
and the women nurses, and the splendid barracks and good
living they would have after leaving the hospital, or the
immediate freedom if they wanted to take the oath and
quit fighting; that everything was so plenty in the North
we could take the best care of them, and as their comrades
knew they were wounded they would of course expect
them to be captured, and it would be perfectly honorable
for them to go where they could be best cared for. I
pledged them all this on the honor of a soldier, but was
getting uneasy, wondering what to say more, when one
of them blurted out, 'What do you say, boys?' and another
answered, 'Darned if I care,' and I instantly took hold of
their guns, pulling them as though it was understood that
I should have them, and they let go. I pitched one gun
behind me and took the gun from the other man before
he had time to protest, and remarking that I would carry
the guns and they could help each other, I took a step
toward our lines, and all three of them climbed out of their
ditch and walked with me, saying just before we got to

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 147
where the surgeons were sawing off arms and legs, 'that
they didn't need any doctors.' "
It was often the painful duty of an officer to announce
sad tidings to relatives, or to transmit to them information
additional to the dreadful news already harshly proclaimed
by the telegraph. The following letter teHs its own mourn
ful story:
Headquarters First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army
Corps.
In the trenches before Atlanta.
Malcolm A. Lowes, Esq.:
My Dear Sir — Your son was interred with all care possible
in a box of heavy dressed lumber found in a mill near the
battlefield, and the place of his burial can easily be identified
should you desire at any time to disinter his remains. I trust
you will permit me to tender you, his bereaved parents, and
to the young wife, whose widowhood has followed so soon
upon her bridal, my heartfelt sympathy in the heavy grief
which has fallen upon you. Your son's courage and enthus
iasm led him into the fight when his condition of health might
well have excused his remaining in the rear. The only sources
of consolation to which I can direct you are the promises of
God to the afflicted, and the fact that your son fell bravely
fighting for the country and government of Washington and
the Fathers.
I am, sir, very truly yours, BENJ. HARRISON.
Rarely is it that the joy that accompanies successful
conflict is not followed by profoundest grief. Thoughts
of the courage and loyalty of those, who in their death
gave the fuH measure of patriotic devotion, for the time
at least, envelope all hearts in the deepest gloom. The
inspiration that comes from contemplation of their lofty
heroism is not for the present, but for the future, when

148 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the awful sacrifice has been glorified by the lapse of years.
It was animating to see young life expanding as duties
were discharged, difficulties overcome, hardships en
dured, sickness disregarded, and death confronted. But
just as the boy stood on the threshold of manhood, prom
ising everything glorious to home and country, to one
seeing him cold, dead, gone forever, there could be no
words, or if any, only Burke's cry, "What shadows we are;
what shadows we pursue."
An officer writes: "You can't teH anything about a
man untH he is tried. There was in our regiment a long,
loose, gawky, simple feHow, just filling the idea some peo
ple have of a Hoosier, who was astonishingly changed by
the thunder and blood of Resaca. He was a new man. His
eyes were bright. His face was thoughtful. He even
moved with a manliness you might call dignity. He con
tinued to improve and develop until he fell before Atlanta.
I venture to say that man lived more in his last three
months than in all the twenty preceding years. I've seen
others fine at talking, good at understanding, right enough
in feeHng perhaps, lose command of themselves and sHnk
to the rear, to be ordered with scorn and curses to the
picket line in front."
One who feH in this battle, James C. Spaulding, can
stand for many that might be mentioned, did space permit,
who quietly did their duty and gave their lives for their
country. The advantages his widowed mother was able
to give him before he entered the army were but few, so
he was known only as a private in the rear rank. The
thought of ever attaining the position even of corporal
seemed not to have entered his mind. His voice was sel
dom heard except at roll caH, or in halting one who ap-

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 149
proached his post. But nothing kept the stripling from
his allotted work, and at last, in the roar of battle, his
comrades found that the boy had become a man and the
man a hero. Truly the Union was bought with a great
price, for the men who are moving heaven and earth for
position are plentiful, but many an ingenuous lad who for
got himself in devotion to duty sleeps on the hiHsides of
Georgia, and the country is the poorer for his loss.
U. H. Farr: "The next morning after the battle the
rebel dead were buried in trenches about six feet wide and
twenty feet long. During the day General Hooker, accom
panied by his staff, rode down the line from left to right
to congratulate the men on the result of the battle. He
had not proceeded far when he was shown a captured
battle flag, and in complimenting the exhibitors he took
off his hat and bowed his head. Putting it on again he
started forward, but had not gone far tHl another flag was
shown him, and as every few steps a captured flag was
brought to view, he concluded it was not worth whHe to
wear his hat, so he held it in his hand and rode slowly
down the line of works, bestowing praises amid the men,
who made his passage a triumphal procession."
J. H. Kelly: "General Hooker resigned command of
the Twentieth Army Corps, and as he rode along the Hne
taking leave of the officers and men, a mortaHy wounded
rebel soldier heard the men cheering and inquired what
it meant. He was told Hooker was coming. He requested
some one to raise him up to see him go by, for he had
heard so much about him and wanted to see him before
he died."
J. L. Ketcham, July twenty-first : "We had a glorious
fight yesterday. I don't know the results of the whole

150 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
fight, but our division repulsed the rebels and threw up
works on the battlefield, where they lay kiHed and wounded,
five to our one, that I know.
"At midnight we were ordered to get ready, and at
daybreak we pushed forward. Halted at noon in a corn
field and ate a cracker for dinner — the sun so terribly hot.
Our division was so fortunate this time as to have an open
field. The Fourth Corps, on our left, and the other divi
sions of our corps had woods to fight in. We were soon
in Hne of battle, and waited for orders in the hot sun. The
battle began at four o'clock and lasted until after dark.
It began on the Fourth Corps; they were a little in advance
of the line and had all their non-combatants with them.
Of all the skedaddling, running and confusion! I never
saw the beat! It amused us at first, but when the firing
began on our Hne amusement sobered into alarm. Then
the hot work began on the left. Both right and left sent
to Hooker for reinforcements. All the answer they got
was, 'Forward!' 'Fighting Joe' had his bodyguard (so
I hear from Colonel Harrison) draw their sabers and push
forward the skulking parties of those who asked for rein
forcements. At this moment we advanced. On we moved
in steady line; we couldn't see the rebs yet. 'Colonel
Merrill wiH take that cedar knoH.' When we reached the
top our lines weren't in so good a shape — the lines of our
division I mean. But no wonder. Some regiments had
a steep hill to cHmb, to pass through a cornfield, through
thickets, blackberry bushes, to cross a creek and a deep
gutter, all of which our regiment did before we at last
reached the top of the cedar knoH. And there were the
Johnny rebs on a ridge just opposite us advancing on us.
The thickets, blackberry bushes and smaH but deep

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 151
ravines offered a good place for skulkers. One little cuss
stopped and commenced picking blackberries. A regi
ment on our right had nice ground to advance on and
was ahead ; the lieutenant-colonel and a rebel colonel were
in a hand-to-hand fight for a rebel flag; but, strange to
say, the rebel colonel got away, limping. Some of our
regiment, tired or excited, stopped on the cedar hHl and
commenced firing. Others were in the ravine in front and
starting up the slope to meet the rebels. Now! who would
win? The rebels advancing, some of our men faltering.
We had nothing to faH back on but a muddy creek we
had taken several hours in crossing on one smaH bridge.
Had we broken how terrible would have been the
slaughter — our men kilHng their comrades and themselves
in trying to cross the creek! There was a desperate attack
on our batteries on the right and left. Colonel Harrison's
adjutant came flying along the lines and shouting, 'For
ward! They are driving us on the right and left!'
"But our artillery helps us. Canister shot is fired into-
them from the woods on our right, and we give them a
volley. They halt, waver. He down. Hurrah ! They break
and run. Our boys take steadier aim now and advance
with enthusiasm. They don't retreat without giving us
several voHeys. We gain their hiH, passing over their kiHed
and wounded, and He down behind some fence raHs the
skirmishers have thrown up and fire into them, retreating.
They made several attempts to rally and recross the open
field, but without success. I got a gun from a wounded
man, pocketed some cartridges and caps, and had several
shots. We were at work nearly all night throwing up
earthworks. We didn't suffer as much as we did at
Resaca — other regiments, though, a great deal more. Our

152 THE SEVENTIETH INDLANA
loss was five kiHed and twenty-seven wounded. Captain
Matlock and Lieutenant Reed were wounded. Englehart
was wounded and Spaulding killed. Lieutenant Lowes was
kHled. He was sick and ought to have been in hospital,
but he wouldn't stay behind. It is impossible to describe
a battle correctly. Every one has a different story to tell.
Some had very narrow escapes. Captain Carson had three
buHet holes in his hat. Colonel MerrHl had a bullet pass
through his coat sleeve. I didn't get a scratch. No one
knows how many narrow escapes he has in battle. It was
a sad, sad sight to see the dead and dying on the battle
field. The rebel wounded couldn't aH be taken off tHI
morning. They lay from four o'clock in the hot sun. One
poor fellow prayed for help; another, too far gone to pray
for help from us, I heard uttering his last prayer. He was
dead this morning.
"General Ward is proud of his old brigade. He rides a
large, splendid looking horse, and is of pretty good size
himself. When excited he puHs at his tremendous gloves.
He was greatly excited when we commenced driving the
rebels, and jerking first at one glove, then the other, he
called out to his aid. Lieutenant Harryman of our regi
ment, 'Ha'yman, Ha'yman, come hea'. Look how the
Fust Brigade, my old brigade, goes in!' Some one tells
a good story of General Thomas. He was standing on a
hiH on the opposite side of the creek. He is always work
ing at his short, thick whiskers. When satisfied he
smooths them down, when troubled he works them all out
of shape. The rebels were advancing on us and we on
them; we met in a hoHow between the cedar knoH and
the hill we afterwards occupied. The general could see
neither party, and it was at that moment, when our right

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 1 53
and left, fighting in the woods, seemed ready to give way,
he had his whiskers all out of shape. He gave orders to
his bodyguard to hold the bridge across Peach Tree Creek
and cut down any armed soldier who attempted to cross.
But when he saw the rebels running, with us after them,
he took off his hat and slung it on the ground and shouted,
'Hurrah! Look at the Third Division. They're driving
them!' His whiskers were soon in good shape again. I
can hardly understand why the rebels lost so many. They
had a long way to charge, but it was a fair, open field fight.
The most of them were shot after they started to run."
Maj.-Gen. H. W. Slocum, in his report made September
29, 1864, mentions two infantry swords and scabbards cap
tured July twentieth by Lieut. Charles H. Cox of Coinpany
E and Private George C. Thompson of Company G. An
other was captured by Private W. A. MiHer of Company
B and turned over to the proper authorities, but seems
to have escaped attention.
Headquarters First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Corps.
Before Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 12th, 1864.
Captain — I have the honor to submit the following report
of the part taken by my brigade in the battle of the 20th of
July (Peach Tree Creek) : After crossing Peach Tree Creek,
on the morning of the 20th, the division was massed in a corn
field in the rear of Newton's division of the Fourth Army
Corps, and while in this position skirmishers were pushed
down the creek to connect with those of the second division
of our corps, and then advanced to a point near the crest of
a large hill in an open field, which intervened between the
right of General Newton's division and the left of General
Geary's. I was then ordered to move my brigade down the
valley of the creek, and to form in line at the foot of the hHl
referred to, connecting my left with the Second Brigade of

154 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
this division (Colonel Coburn's) and my right with the left
of General Geary's division. On arriving at the point indi
cated, I found that General Geary had already occupied the
crest of the hill to which I have before referred, and that his
left was resting in the edge of the timber bordering on a corn
field, where he had some artillery in position. At this point,
the whole field, which afterward became the battle ground,
could be overlooked, though the crest just here was not so
far advanced as that portion of the ridge afterward occupied
by this division. The view of the ground thus obtained en
abled me to direct the movements of my brigade in the action
which followed with much greater certainty and success than
I could otherwise have done. When Colonel Coburn's bri
gade was formed and his right established, I found that I
could only have room enough for one regiment in the interval
between his right and General Geary's left, and reported this
fact to the division commander, when each of the other bri
gade commanders were ordered to throw one regiment on a
second line and to close to the left so as to enable me to
bring into the first line two more regiments. This change was
at once executed, and my brigade was then formed in the fol
lowing order, viz: In the first line, on the right, the One
Hundred and Second IHinois Volunteer Infantry, Captain
Wilson commanding; in the center the Seventy-ninth Ohio,
Lieutenant-Colonel Doane, commanding, and on the left
the One Hundred and T-wenty-ninth Illinois Volun
teer Infantry, Colonel Case commanding. In the sec
ond line, on the right, the One Hundred and Fifth
Illinois, Major Dutton commanding, and on the left,
the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel
Merrill commanding. After these dispositions had been made
the troops were permitted to rest until the residue of the line
should be in readiness for the attack, which it was intended to
make upon the enemy's lines. In front of my two regiments
of the front line on the right there was quite a steep bluff,
at the top of which there was a level field cultivated in corn
some four hundred yards across, and beyond which the ground

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 1 55
again sloped down toward the bed of a small creek. Between
these two regiments and the left regiment of the front line, a
small stream ran from the southwest upon which, about three
hundred yards from where we lay, was a grist mill. On the
left of this creek immediately in front of our lines, was a low
ridge covered with small pines, and still beyond this and a
ravine which intervened, was a high cleared ridge, which was
the line finally occupied by our troops. This ridge was the
key point to the whole position. If held by the enemy, we
should have been forced to retire beyond Peach Tree Creek.
At this time I received orders to relieve the One Hundred and
Thirty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, then covering my
front as skirmishers, by a detail from my brigade when the
advance should commence. One hundred men, chiefly Spencer
riflemen, from the Seventy-ninth Ohio and One Hundred
and Second Illinois Volunteers, under the command of Cap
tain Williamson, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, were
detailed for this duty and held in readiness to advance when
orders should be received. While thus formed and waiting
I met Colonel Coburn, commanding Second Brigade, who in
formed me that his skirmishers reported the enemy advancing
to attack us, and suggested that our line ought to be advanced
to the crest of the smaH ridge which extended itself in front
of his line and a portion of the left of my brigade. I con
curred in this suggestion and Colonel Coburn immediately
went to submit the matter to the Brigadier General command
ing the division, and very soon afterward I received an order
in case the enemy advanced to move forward to the crest of
the ridge mentioned. Very soon afterward, I saw from the
high ground where the left of the second division rested, the
enemy's advance push out of the woods and press rapidly to
wards us. I at once ordered my brigade to advance to the
crest of the small ridge in our front and there to halt, which
was speedily accomplished. Returning to my post of obser
vation, I watched the enemy's advance over the crest of the
higher ridge in our front and down its slope toward us, until
their lines were scarcely separated by a distance of one hun-

156 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
dred yards from ours. During this advance the artHlery on
the left of the second division had been pouring into the
enemy quite a destructive fire of case-shot and shell, and the
skirmishers on my front, re-enforced by the detaH of one hun
dred Spencer rifles, which I ordered forward at the beginning
of the attack, were punishing the enemy severely. This, to
gether with the long distance the enemy had charged over on
the double-quick had broken his front line to some extent,
and I could observe many of his men lying down and a few
even turning back, while the officers, with drawn swords, were
trying to steady their lines and push them forward. Believing
it to be of vital importance to strike a counter blow before the
rear lines of the enemy came up, and while his advance was in
disorder, and to secure the high ridge in our front, I sent
Captain Dunlevy, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, to order
my three regiments on the left of a small creek which inter
sected my line, to advance and attack the enemy vigorously
while at the same time I brought forward the two right regi
ments to the farther slope of the hill, which at this point had
not been passed by the enemy, in order to cover the left of
General Geary's line and to connect with my left when it
should push the enemy back over the crest. The order borne
by Captain Dunlevy was promptly and vigorously executed
by the regiments on the left. Our advance, though desper
ately resisted by the enemy, was steady and unfaltering; the
fighting was hand to hand, and step by step; the enemy was
pushed back over the crest in our front and the key point of
the battle won. When this advance was ordered, the two regi
ments in my second line, the Seventieth Indiana and the One
Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, were obliqued
to the left, in order to extend my line and cover that flank,
and came up into the first line. My line, though thus ex
tended, was still uncovered on the left and the enemy for a
time were on my flank and rear. Captain Dunlevy reported
to me that my left regiment, the Seventieth Indiana, would
certainly be cut off if its left was not refused. He said he
suggested this to Captain H. M. Endsley, commanding the

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 157
left wing of the regiment, but that grizzly old veteran had
only stopped to say, "I can't see it," and he pushed on for the
enemy in his front. This danger was soon removed, as I was
sure it would be by the splendid advance of Colonel Coburn's
brigade, which, after fighting its way desperately to the top
of the hill, connected with me on the left. After reaching the
crest the line was halted, as a farther advance would have ex
posed both flanks, but the battle was continued for above two
hours, with the enemy on the farther slope, who was endeav
oring to reform for another attack. The destructive fire we
continued to pour into him finally compelled him to retire,
broken and thoroughly whipped, to his rifle pits, which were
observable from this point in the woods beyond. The two
regiments on my right, though not engaged at such close
quarters as those on the left of the creek, owing to the fact
that the marshy bed of the creek, which turned to the west
along their front, prevented the enemy from pushing up to
close quarters, did quite as good service, and suffered rather
more severely than those on the left. Their fire, which was
chiefly oblique, was delivered with coolness and was very de
structive. The One Hundred and Second IHinois, on the
right, poured its fire by a right oblique into the columns of
the enemy, who were pressing General Geary's front, and
aided very essentially in supporting General Geary's battery,
which was at one time very near falling into the hands of the
enemy. The Seventy-ninth Ohio, next to this regiment on
the left, delivered a left obHque fire, which very essentially
aided the line on the left of the creek near the mill, at which
point the enemy was pressing in heavy force. While the bat
tle was at its height, I observed some of the artillery of General
Geary's division on my immediate front, retiring toward Peach
Tree Creek, in the rear of our division, and inquiring of the
officer in charge, was told that the right of the second division
had been broken, and that he was trying to retire his battery
a section at a time. While I was conversing with him the
situation was made more apparent to me by a heavy fire of
musketry being poured into the field where we stood from the

158 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
rear. A moment's reflection satisfied me that whatever other
portions of the line might do, we must hold our line and fight
where we were. The creek (Peach Tree) in our rear at this
place, ten feet deep, with very miry banks and bed, had not
been bridged, and to- attempt to cross it would have been utter
destruction. Concealing the situation (which was rendered
more critical by a temporary giving way of Newton's division
on our left) from my officers and men, we continued the fight,
trusting to the brave troops on our right to recover their
ground. While this danger was most apparent a staff officer,
who is still unknown, but supposed to be from some command
on our right, came to Captain Wilson, commanding One Hun
dred and Second Illinois, and told him if he did not retire his
regiment, it would certainly be cut off. The Captain very
coolly replied that his regiment had been placed there by me
and should stay there until I ordered it away. As the fire
slackened, rails were gathered and a temporary breastwork
thrown up, which, after night, was strengthened and made
secure. At one time during the fight our ammunition began
to get low and considerable uneasiness was felt lest it might
be exhausted. I at once dispatched Lieutenant MitcheH,
aide-de-camp, to have a supply brought up, whHe Captain
Scott, Acting Assistant Inspector General, and others busied
themselves in cutting the cartridge boxes from the rebel dead
within our lines and distributing them to the men. The enemy
in my front greatly outnumbered me, three distinct lines of
battle being discernible as he advanced, while my brigade
from the first fought in a single line. The enemy's dead to the
number of 150 were left within our lines and buried by us,
while several hundred others were seen upon the open field
between the lines, but couldn't be reached for burial. Among
the dead buried were one Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors,
two Captains and three Lieutenants. We took 155 prisoners,
as near as the number can be arrived at, of whom ten were
commissioned officers, two stand of colors and 200 stand of
small arms were also captured. The loss sustained by my
brigade was very light compared with that of the enemy, ow-

THE BATTLE OF PEACH TREE CREEK 159
ing to the fact, as I believe, that the enemy, having the higher
ground, fired too high. The foUowing is a brief summary of
my loss: Killed, one commissioned officer (Lieutenant
Lowes, Seventieth Indiana), thirty-one enlisted men.
Wounded, five commissioned officers, 144 enHsted men; total,
181. I desire before closing this report to speak of the bravery
and soldierly conduct displayed by the officers and men of my
command. The advance was so fierce, steady and weH sus
tained that nothing could withstand it, and was only equaled
by the firmness with which having gained the ridge, they held
it against all the attempts of the enemy to repossess it. Cap
tain Wilson, commanding the One Hundred and Second Illi
nois Volunteer Infantry, though unused to regimental com
mand, managed the regiment with marked skill and deserves
special mention. Lieutenant-Colonel Doone, Seventy-ninth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, though quite ill, led his regiment
into action, and with the assistance of Captain Samuel West,
a young officer of great merit, handled it with great effective
ness. Of Colonel Case, Major Dutton and Lieutenant-Colonel
Merrill and the other field officers of their respective regi
ments, I need only to say that they bore themselves as they
have ever done during the campaign, with conspicuous cour
age. To the officers of my staff — Captain H. M. Scott, Act
ing Assistant Inspector General; Captain Dunlevy, Acting
Assistant Adjutant-General ; Lieutenants McKnight and
Mitchell, Aides-de-Camp, and Lieutenant Merritt, Provost
Marshal — I must express my thanks for the courage with
which they bore my orders on the field, amid storm of shot,
and the active intelligence with which they assisted in their
execution. The reports of my regimental commanders are
sent herewith.
I am. Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
Colonel commanding First Brigade.
Captain John Speed,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

CHAPTER X.
CAPTURE OF ATLANTA
U. H. Farr: "On the twenty-second of July we moved
forward and to the left in close proximity to the strong
defenses of Atlanta, and were welcomed with a terrific
fire of artillery and a stubborn resistance on the part of the
rebel skirmishers. The crash of cannon in our front and
the exploding shells among us prevented our hearing the
fearful battle on the left, in which McPherson was kiHed.
"On the twenty-eighth, hearing heavy firing, our brigade
left its works, to be fiHed by other troops, and hurried,
double-quicking almost a mile, toward the sound of the
battle to reinforce those who were engaged. However,
the rebels, after making seven desperate assaults on How
ard's corps, retired, and we were sent to the extreme right
of the army, where we were joined the foHowing day by
Coburn's brigade, which was placed stiH farther to the
right, but refused to the rear."
An officer writes: "July thirtieth, Saturday. — The Con
federates appear to us entirely heathenish, for they make
no effort to remove their severely wounded, leaving them
to fall into our hands after a day or two, and never exert
ing themselves in the least to bury their dead, who, when
we find them, are most loathsome. Sunday. — ^Just at twi
light this morning the Thirty-third Indiana band played
Old Hundred grandly, I am not often nowadays con
scious of being immortal, but as that glorious tune sweHed
forth, the past, the present and the future seemed to melt
into one, and all our loved who have gone before were
160

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA l6l
with me listening. Of late I have been touched with pity
for our deluded enemies. It is very sad to read letters
written by men just before they died, or to see a corpse
deserted by every one except a howling dog."
U. H. Farr : "August second we were ordered to the left
again, where our regimental line was bisected by a pike run
ning near and parallel to the railroad. We worked day and
night constructing defenses, but as soon as they were finished
the engineers devised new works nearer the enemy. The
last advance was to a point in plain view of a rebel fort, out
of whose portholes heavy siege guns would send shells to
burst over our heads. The trench on the inside of our
breastworks was several yards in width, and in front too
wide to be leaped across, and six feet deep. Holes a foot
or two in depth were dug and concealed with brush, and
telegraph wire was fastened to little stumps and pegs
paraHel with the works, and everything that could be made
an impediment to an assaulting column was brought into
play, for our line had been so extended that even if rein
forced by the retiring skirmishers, the men would still have
been several feet from one another. Every night after
dark the skirmish refief would move along some ravine
leading from the line of breastworks to the front, and then
crawl from pit to pit. The skirmish lines were now so
close that the Union men could hear the Confederates
talking. Often at night our brass bands would play the
familiar notes of national hymns or the favorite tunes we
had often heard in the churches at home, and while the
music was rendered the stillness would be profound, not
a shot would be exchanged."
J. L. Ketcham: "August fifth. — I had to make details
last night at nine, eleven, two and five o'clock to work on

l62 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
a new Hne of trenches. We have just occupied them this
morning. This makes the third, and in some places, the
fourth fine of works. We are creeping in on them. WHl
dig our way either in or around the city. We were on the
extreme right three days ago; are now near the center.
A heavy old siege gun sends a shell into the city every five
minutes as regular as a clock. It has been firing about
thirty-six hours. The shell goes screeching and howfing.
The boys call it the Atlanta Express."
Lieutenant Grubbs: "August twelfth. — Yesterday we
again commenced the work of advancing our lines. Are
moving them one hundred yards to the front, and within
three hundred yards of the rebel works. Working parties
have been busy since yesterday morning constructing, un
der a sharp, fire of artillery and musketry, a new line, and
to-day the work is almost complete. The Johnnies, taunted
by the sound of the Yankee axes and picks, have been
firing most viciously all the morning. One man of Com
pany G was killed on the breastworks; others were
wounded, but the work still went on."
Another officer writes: "August fifteenth, Sunday. — ^A
buHet just now went through my tent, with force enough
to have gone through me twice over. I was lying down
reading. If I had been standing, it would have been good
bye, books. We had three men kiHed day before yesterday,
and two wounded yesterday, by what are called stray bul
lets. I was affected as the boys carried Private Johnnie
Newton on a stretcher to the rear to die, by his calling out,
'Good-bye, Colonel!' One feels so helpless in the pres
ence of death."
On the same date. Lieutenant Grubbs: "I came in off
the skirmish line last night at nine o'clock, after lying there

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 163
without sleep or relief since eight the evening before. Our
line and that of the Johnnies are not more than two hun
dred yards apart, and each watched the other all day long
like hawks to see if a head or limb exposed gave the chance
of a shot. We have rifle pits for the skirmishers, as well as
breastworks for the main line. They are constructed in
the night under cover of the darkness, as near the rebs'
line as possible without arousing them. A few rails or
logs are pHed up, and in rear of them a deep ditch is dug
and the dirt thrown in front of the rails, forming an em
bankment. "I don't want to be in a hotter place than we had all
day yesterday. Shortly after daylight they sent out their
sharpshooters, who posted themselves on a rise a little to
our right and front. There was considerable underbrush,
and it was some time before they discovered us or we them.
But soon one sharper-eyed than his comrades saw a
Johnny stealing through the woods, and in a moment more
spied their secure retreat. Of course the boys could not
but fire away whenever one would show himself, and they
too looked out our post, and soon were returning the com
pliment with interest. We soon found out that they were
not simply pickets, they fired too accurately for that; they
were trained sharpshooters, who could put a baH almost
anywhere they desired. And they put in many a shot that
afternoon far closer than was comfortable for us. We had
an arbor of leaves above us as a shelter from the sun, and
they shot two of the poles which sustained it clear off.
They spHntered the rails which formed our protection, and
showered the dirt and bark on us. Nor did we submit to
it all quietly. With guns ready and aimed we would stand
at the works, and when a Johnny would show himself at

l64 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
him would go a voHey. Sometimes we would watch them
so closely that they could not fire a shot for an hour. Then
in turn they would keep us as close for an hour, and so
the game went on all day, firing growing so sharp some
times as to almost bring the men in camp to the trenches.
It's tiresome work, but still exciting, and this morning I
feel as if I had done a week's hard labor. The whole woods
here look worse than Chickamauga battlefield. Under
brush and trees six or eight inches in diameter are mowed
off with bullets, until what was an impenetrable thicket is
now almost a clearing. You can scarcely imagine how
glad I was last night when I heard the relief coming, for
I was tired and sleepy and wanted rest sadly. This morn
ing, just before daybreak, we had an alarm and were called
to arms. It was only a sharp skirmish fight, however, and
extended no farther."
U. H. Farr: "The night of the twenty-fifth of August
those who were detailed to go on picket were told to take
everything with them, as they might not come back there
again. At the hour for roll caH, when the drums were beat
ing furiously, there could be distinguished the rumble of ar
tillery in the works, and the heavy tread of moving masses
of men. At the usual time for the bands to play they
poured forth the finest music the pickets had ever Hstened
to, and when they heard the solemn but mournful tunes
that have come down through the ages, the feeling that
they had been deserted, and the loneliness of their position,
was overpowering. Just before break of day the order
came to move out. When they had reached a point over
looking and about a mile to the rear of the works, it was
light enough to see the smoke of the rebels' morning

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 165
campfires. Everything seemed as quiet as the grave, not
a shot could be heard in any direction.
"A horseman was waiting at this elevation to observe
the movements of the enemy. When they had marched
a mile farther he overtook them and reported that he saw
the rebels make the discovery of our supposed retreat.
While they were getting breakfast they seemed to notice
there was no smoke coming from our works, when some
of them looked awhile, and one more venturesome than
the others proceeded to step across the space dividing the
skirmish lines, and finding them empty, hurried at a some
what faster pace to the main line of our fortifications.
Mounting these he motioned to his comrades, and soon
they were lined with the jubilant enemy. Before long a
body of cavalry emerged from the works and salHed in the
direction of the retreating pickets, but did not overtake
them, for by nine or ten o'clock they had rejoined their
commands." August thirtieth. Lieutenant Grubbs: "To-day the en
tire Twentieth Corps Hes upon the banks of the
Chattahoochie, guarding communications and protecting
supplies, while Sherman undertakes new and important
operations against Atlanta. We had orders to have every
thing ready to march at eight o'clock on the night of the
twenty-fifth. You may imagine it was no easy matter to
slip out from under the eyes of the watchful enemy, who
lay so near us. Only a hundred yards in front were hostile
pickets, and we could scarce make a single movement
without their knowledge. Already they seemed tO' have
some hint of our going, for at early daybreak on the mom
ing of the twenty-fifth they had shelled our lines vigor
ously, evidently thinking that we had gone, but our

1 66 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
artiHery soon convinced them that we were there. After
dark tents were silently struck and baggage prepared for
instant move. Bands aH along the Hne struck up their
liveHest notes, drums rattled their loudest, but it was only
a clever ruse to drown the harsh rumbling of the artiHery
as it moved to the rear. Fires, too, gfistened all along the
line, as they had each night for weeks. Regiments were
formed in the trenches, and at the signal, Yankee Doodle,
by all the bands, all moved silently and quickly rearward.
Half an hour passed and we heard taps sounded by the
buglers left behind to a deserted camp.
"Thus was effected our first withdrawal from the face of
the enemy. We marched a mile to a good position on a
hill, and there we lay in line whHe all our trains and
plunder passed us. At two o'clock we marched for the
river, six miles, reaching it just before day. That day and
the next we lay in support of our First Division whHe it
fortified. On the morning of the twenty-eighth we moved
across the river and occupied old rebel works resting on
the river and crossing the railroad. We are now on a ridge
in a beautiful place, with a fine view of the surrounding
country." U. H. Farr: "On the night of September first we heard
the crashing of sheHs and heavy explosions in Atlanta, and
could see a fire raging in the city. Early on the morning
of the second we marched hurriedly through our old works,
through the rebel works, into the city; the leading troops
of our division skirmishing with a few rebel troops in the
streets. The effect of our artiHery and musketry fire was
everywhere visible. Not a building but one or more sheH
holes through it, and many houses were dotted with minie
balls. Long trains of cars had been destroyed the night

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 167
before, and fires were still burning. Lead from melted
bullets had settled in depressions and cooled in masses a
foot in thickness. It was very pleasant to see ammuni
tion used in this way by the rebels which had been intended
for our destruction."
Lieutenant Grubbs: "We entered Atlanta yesterday
with flying colors, and are now encamped southwest of
the city on the Augusta road. In aH the northern end of
the city there is not a house but has been riddled from
fore to aft with shot and shell. Every residence, too, and
front yard has its gopher hole, as well the lordly man
sion of the aristocrat as the humble cottage of the laborer.
And when our sheHs came singing overhead, the silken-
clad hostess of the mansion doubtless ran as nimbly to her
house of refuge as did she of the cottage. War is no re
specter of persons."
At last, after unflinching persistence and sufferings in
describable endured by the Northern men, the city of
Atlanta lay helpless at the conquerors' feet. Only those
who took part can know of the sickening horrors our army
endured while it tried to wear the enemy out. Mosquitoes,
fleas, ticks, lice, graybacks, snakes, spiders, tarantulas,
scorpions, itch, scurvy, poison vines were our light afflic
tions. Our grievous affliction was lying night after night
in the accumulated nastiness that the filthy foe we were
driving before us, inch by inch, had left behind.
Doubtless the delicate reader who has had no such ex
perience will be disgusted by words that describe aH too
mildly the horrors of such a campaign. Let him not turn
away in dismay from the truth, but think for a moment
of the private soldier from a clean and comfortable home
bearing this thing through the hot months of summer, his

l68 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
skin eaten off by devilish, disgusting insects, his one suit
of woolen clothing reeking with filth, his tortured body a
target for bullets by night and by day, his misery ended
only when his comrades, envying his release, cover him in
the sand.
A battle is terrible, but in all its terrors, and in all its
grandeur, it can be described. Not so the wearing out
of an enemy by enduring evils only hinted at above.
Bravery is the briHiant, is the attractive virtue, but patience
is the essence of many a grace, arid to it the supremacy
must be given. It should be kept in mind that our soldiers
were but boys, bearing what might stagger men. A self-
denying, uncomplaining spirit grew as these lads, night
after night, looked up to the holy light of the stars; it
spread as the reveiHe bugle music ran from brigade to
brigade at each morning's dawn ; it deepened as in darkness
on lonely outpost the thought of home came with heavenly
sweetness; it increased in the din of battle tiH the modest
youths unconsciously displayed every virtue that mani
fests nobleness of soul.
Back of bayonets must be men. It is iron in the blood,
not weapons of iron, that wins. Reverence for right is what
gives dignity. That men can be found who do not flinch,
but who quietly see the thing through, is what gives Hfe
its real grandeur. Moments or years are short or long,
little or great, only as they contain experiences. Many
an hour has more of "glorious life" than have ages when
"wealth accumulates and men decay." In scenes like
these shine forth virtues that prove the soul more priceless
than the stars. The bright orbs above us have their years
and cycles that speak of time and end, but majestic actions

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 169
and holy emotions foretell an existence whose scope is
eternity. Our young men did not become prematurely old or
unnaturally serious. Far from it. As long as they could
keep with their companies there were the uniformly cheer
ful voices, ringing out in merry laughter at caH of strange
adventure or ludicrous surroundings. As the thrush on
topmost twig of taHest tree, pouring forth his song tiH air
above and air beneath quivers with the melody, suddenly
ceases his minstrelsy forever, when sportsman's cruel shaft
flings him fluttering with broken wing to darkened thicket
and the shades of death, so the sound of boyish merriment
is still only when fatal disease or mortal wound sends the
drooping lads to the dreaded hospital.
On September ninth an officer writes: "Darky Tom,
while yawning just now, swallowed a yaller jacket, as he
called it. The lazy scamp did some lively dancing for a
few minutes. Tom is the gentleman of whom another
African said, 'Lord, how dat ole nigga Tom yander did
clime dat ar day de big fight on Peach Tree Crick.' All of
us, however, ought to make good dancers or fine racers, for
like prize fighters under training, flesh has been reduced
tHl the calves are gone from our legs, and they are as
straight up and down as a horse's. There is no danger now
of receiving a flesh wound, for it's bone or nothing."
J. M. WiHs: "After the surrender of Atlanta we camped
in and around the city for one month, and when General
Hood flanked Sherman and began his disastrous cam
paign, our brigade, on October second, went north eight
miles, crossed the Chattahoochie River, going into camp
four mHes south of the crossing at Turner's Ferry, on
October fifth, where we remained until Sherman was

I70 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ready to start on his march to the sea. WhHe in camp
here the presidential election of 1864 took place, with Lin
coln and McClellan as candidates. The Hoosier boys were
not granted the privilege that was given the boys of the
Buckeye State, of voting and having their baHots counted.
However, a Board of Election Officers was appointed, and
an election held. Each man was suppHed with two tickets,
one with the name of Lincoln and the other with the name
of McClellan, and without fear or intimidation deposited
his baHot. Out of over five hundred votes cast Lincoln
received aH but ten. In a few days after the election we
marched back to Atlanta, and the veterans and recruits of
the Twenty-seventh Indiana were consolidated with our
regiment." J. H. Kelly: "October twenty-first. — Great rejoicing
over Governor Morton's re-election by thirty thousand
majority. October twenty-seventh. — The Seventieth was
paid ten months' wages. Company I sent home more than
three thousand dollars. November second. — Orders for
every man to provide himself with two pairs of shoes and
sixty rounds of cartridges."
Captain Carson: "Of the seventy-five men in my com
pany who started on this campaign only fourteen answer
to their names. While the regiment was at Turner's Ferry,
on the Chattahoochie River, after the fall of Atlanta, Com
pany G, with a detail of ten men from each of the other
companies, while on a scouting expedition, came in con
flict, some miles from camp, with a division of rebel
cavalry at Mitchell's Cross Roads. The detachment was
promptly deployed as skirmishers, and began pushing the
enemy, who being ignorant of the smaH number of his
opponents, gradually fell back, finally retreating. The de-

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 171
tachment returned safely to camp, rejoicing in the success
of their bluff, and in the knowledge that five of the enemy
had been wounded."
U, H. Farr: "In the bottoms along the river grew large
quantities of peas or beans, which the planters had raised
for the purpose of feeding their stock, human and other
wise, the animals eating the stalks and pods, and the slaves
the contents of the pods. As we were short of bread we
found these peas wholesome food. A small piece of meat
put in the boiling pot with these peas made a dinner that
was pronounced by those who partook as both rich and
splendid; and if a pumpkin was found and added, the joy
of the diners was unconfined. Now and then wild grapes,
stewed with much sugar, garnished with persimmons, made
a repast which all declared fit for General Sherman or
Abraham Lincoln. As rebels were prowling about, there
was some skirmishing, four companies being called out
one day and the river bottom on each side scoured, and
much distance-shooting done. Just before we left our
camp at Atlanta we assisted the prisoners in pulHng down
a railroad bridge that spanned the river. A long rope was
fastened to it, and our vigorous efforts swung the tall
trestles out of balance, so that the whole structure fell into
the stream with a mighty crash."
The following is an extract from the report made by
Capt. H. M. Scott touching the surrender of Atlanta:
Headquarters Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps.
Atlanta, Ga., September 3, 1864.
General — I have the honor to submit the following report of
reconnaissance made yesterday, which resulted in the occupa
tion of Atlanta by our forces : Taking the advance with cav
alry, I proceeded out Turner's Ferry road and, scouting coun-

172 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
try thoroughly to right and left, advanced without opposition
to the works in front of Atlanta formerly occupied by our di
vision. Soon after passing through the works, a body of men
was observed coming out from the city. Advancing rapidly
toward them, I discovered that they were citizens bearing a
flag of truce. Going forward, I asked them what proposition
they had to make. One of them then made himself known
as the Mayor, and said that he had come to surrender the
city and ask protection for non-combatants and private prop
erty. In answer to further interrogatives he said that General
Ferguson's brigade was just retiring from the city, and that
the General had agreed to withdraw without offering us re
sistance in order to insure the safety of non-combatants. Not
withstanding the assurance of the Mayor that resistance would
not be offered us, we had scarcely entered the city before we
were fired upon and a spirited skirmish ensued. I notified
some of the citizens that we considered this as a violation of
good faith, and that if the rebels continued to fire from be
hind houses they need expect no protection for persons or
property, and that they had better communicate this fact to
the enemy. The Mayor afterward went out and endeavored
to stop the firing, but came back reporting that he could do
nothing with the men; that it was but a few drunken strag
glers, and that they had come very near shooting him. The
infantry skirmishers were then pushed forward and with the
cavalry cleared the city. We first entered the city at about 9
A. M., and about one hour afterward the surrender was made.
About 2 P. M. part of the First and Second divisions came up,
and soon after General Slocum arrived and took command.
Attached hereto find copy of capitulation.
I am. General, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
H. M. SCOTT,
Captain Seventieth Ind. Vol. Inf. and A. A. I. G., Third Div.,
Twentieth A. C.
(Brig.-Gen. W. T. Ward, commanding Third Division.)

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 173
Atlanta, Ga., September 2, 1864.
Brigadier-General Ward, Commanding Third Division, Twen
tieth Corps:
Sir — The fortune of war has placed Atlanta in your hands.
As Mayor of the city I ask protection to non-combatants and
private property.
JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor of Atlanta.
Attest: H. M. SCOTT,
Capt. and Actg. Asst. Insp. Gen., Third Div., Twentieth
Army Corps.
J. P, THOMPSON,
Lieut, and Actg. Aide-de-Camp, Third Div., Twentieth
Army Corps. Executive Mansion,
Washington, D. C, Sept. 3, 1864.
The National thanks are tendered by the President to Major
General W. T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of
his command before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability,
courage, and perseverance displayed in the campaign in
Georgia, which, under Divine favor, has resulted in the cap
ture of the city of Atlanta. The marches, battles, sieges, and
other military operations that have signalized the campaign
must render it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled
those who have participated therein to the applause and
thanks of the nation. ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States.
Headquarters First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army
Corps.
Chattahoochee Railroad Bridge, Sept. 14, 1864.
Captain : I have the honor, in pursuance of orders received,
to submit the following report of the operations and move
ments of my brigade from the 21st day of July, 1864, to the
2d inst. : *
On the 2 1 St day of July, my brigade rested in the breast
works built the night previous after the fight of the 20th was

174 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ended, save such details as were necessary to bury the rebel
dead within our lines. The enemy's works were plainly visible
at some points in my front, and a good deal of movement was
observed during the day within their lines. There was but
little skirmish firing during the day, though some burial par
ties that were sent out in front of my works to coUect and
bury the rebel dead were fired upon by the enemy and com
pelled to retire. After this exhibition of bad faith, I made no
further effort to reach the rebel dead that could be seen
between our lines, and many were left when we moved the
next morning, unburied, and so remained for several days. On
the morning of the 22d of July the pickets discovered that the
enemy had retreated, and orders were soon received to follow
him. My brigade, having the advance of this division, moved
out rapidly on the Buck Head road, with two companies of
Spencer riflemen as an advance guard, the skirmishers having
already moved forward on a line covering our front. The
advance was made with rapidity, as the impression prevailed
among most of the officers and men that we would be able to
enter the city of Atlanta without further opposition. After
moving about three miles, sharp skirmishing commenced on
our right, and I at once brought two regiments into line to
support the skirmishers and resist any sudden attack that
might be made upon us. At this time the enemy's skirmishers
were seen in an open field to our right, and not being able to
determine whether they were advancing or retiring, and hav
ing at this time no connection with other troops, either on our
right or on our left, we remained here a short time to await
the appearance of other troops. The brigadier general com
manding the division having in the meantime moved on with
the advanced guard, I received an order through Lieut.-Col.
C. W. Asmussen, assistant inspector-general Twentieth Corps,
to leave the road on which we were marching, and move
obliquely to the right, in a southwesterly direction, to a high
ridge and take position. Having formed my brigade in two
lines, I moved to the point indicated, the Second and Third
Brigades following by the flank, and took up a position where

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 175
I was directed by Col. Asmussen to remain until I received
further orders. In reconnoitering the ground and looking
about for the Second Division, with which we were to connect
on the right, I found that we were far in advance of any other
troops, and it was not till we had been some half an hour in
this position that the skirmishers of the Second Division
moved past me. The enemy's skirmish pits and skirmishers
were in sight, and their main line of works not over 1,000
yards distant. WhHe lying in this position, I received several
orders from the brigadier-general commanding the division to
move my brigade forward, he being some distance in advance
with my advance guard, but after submitting to his considera
tion the orders already received by me, I was left in position,
and the Second Division was put in position on my left and
the Third Brigade on my right, some distance retired.
Intrenchments were at once constructed, at first of a frail
character, but as the enemy very soon opened upon us with
artillery they were made stronger. The brigade remained in
this position until the 26th without anything important occur
ring, except that the line was advanced about forty rods on
the 24th. On the 26th our entire division was relieved by the
Second Division, and was put in reserve, where we remained
until the 29th. On the 29th the entire division was removed
to the extreme right of the army to support a reconnaissance
to be made by Davis' division of the Fourteenth Corps. The
reconnaissance was made without any fighting, and our
division rested for the night in a large field about one mHe in
advance of the works of the Army of the Tennessee. On the
day following, Davis' division again moved to the right, and
went into position, and our division formed in the rear of the
right of that division, and at right angles with it to cover the
flanks. A line of works was here constructed, but no enemy
was seen even by our pickets. We remained in this position
during the 31st day of July and the ist day of August, and
on the 2d moved to the left of our line and encamped for the
night near the railroad.
On the morning of the 3d of August my brigade moved up

176 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
and relieved Moore's brigade, of the Fourteenth Army Corps,
in the works, my left resting on the railroad. On the day fol
lowing we built and occupied an advanced line of works and
continued to hold them without any change of importance
occurring until the nth of August, when the right of my line
for the length of three regiments was again advanced. On
the 14th and 15th I planned and constructed a lunette on the
left of my line for the four guns stationed at that point (one
section Battery I, First Michigan, and one section Battery C,
First Ohio) with a view to give better range and more security
to the guns. From that time until the night of the 2Sth no
change took place within our lines.
During all the time we lay before the city very active picket
firing was kept up, and frequently we were subjected to a
severe and well directed fire of shell from the enemy's forts.
Almost every day casualties occurred within my lines, and it
was in many places impossible to show a head above the works
without it being made a target for rebel sharpshooters. The
men were compelled to keep continually under cover and
suffered great constraint by being kept so continuously in
the ditches, which were frequently very wet and muddy.
Many casualties occurred while men were sitting in their
tents close behind the works, and several were killed while
asleep in their bunks. The enemy's works were not more than
600 yards from my lines, and their gunners could be plainly
seen from my lines with the naked eye when using the rammer.
Our picket-lines were in some places not more than fifty paces
apart. On the afternoon of the 25th of August I was ordered
to report to Brig.-Gen. Williams, commanding Twentieth
Army Corps, for orders, and having done so, was ordered by
him to report to Brig.-Gen. Knipe, commanding the First
Division, Twentieth Army Corps. From the latter I received
orders to withdraw my brigade from the works at 8 P. M. and
form it in mass on a range of hills about a quarter of a mile
to the rear, near the Marietta road, there to await the move
ments of the Fourth Corps to the right of the army, and then
to move in the rear of Brig.-Gen. Ruger's brigade by the

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 177
Marietta road to the Chattahoochee river. These orders were
executed, and the brigade arrived without loss at the river
about daylight on the morning of the 26th, and was put in
reserve until it should be ascertained whether the enemy
would follow up our movement. On the afternoon of the
27th, I was ordered by Maj.-Gen. Slocum to report to him
for orders, and was by him put in position on the north side
of the Chattahoochee river in the old line of rebel works for
the purpose of covering the trains, and commissary and
ordnance depots, my flanks resting on the river, where I have
remained until this time, except that when the First Division
moved into the occupancy of the city of Atlanta, I was ordered
to put one regiment into position on the south side of the river
to cover the bridge.
Not having had the opportunity in former reports rendered
from me during the campaign suitably to acknowledge the
services of Lieut. George W. Gilchrist, my pioneer officer, I
take this occasion to say that his skill in his department, his
energy and courage, deserve the highest commendation. He
was ever ready to go to the skirmish line or beyond it, if work
was to be done there, and any work entrusted to him was
promptly and skilfully done. I submit herewith the reports
of my regimental commanders, and also a list of kiHed and
wounded for the period embraced in the report. List shows
I officer and 8 men killed, i officer and 52 men wounded.
Total, 63. Respectfully submitted,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
Col. Commanding ist Brig., 3d Div., 20th Army Corps.
Capt. John Speed,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
Headquarters First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army
Corps.
Chattahoochee River, Sept. 5, 1864.
Colonel — I disposed of my troops at daylight yesterday
morning, according to the directions contained in your letter
of the night before. The Thirty-third Massachusetts was

178 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
placed on the south side of the river, covering the bridges, as
I thought it could be best spared from my line on this side.
This morning I have ordered that regiment forward to
Atlanta, in obedience to a telegram received from you last
evening, and have put the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois in
the place occupied by it on the south side of the river. Mov
ing these two regiments from my line on the north, will com
pel me to-day to take up a new and a shorter line. This I shall
do by occupying the shortest Hne outside of the depot of sup
plies stored here untH these supplies are removed, when I pro
pose to still further contract my lines, and occupy the line of
rebel defenses in which our artillery has been. I hope these
supplies may be removed as soon as possible, as while they
remain, my lines are so extended as to be weak and unsafe.
If I am expected to remain here for any length of time, I will
construct some blockhouses on the south side of the river for
the better defense of the bridge. I think about four good
'blockhouses would cover aH of the approaches on the south
side. I would like, if possible, to have some artillery left here,
as in case an attack should be made with artillery the bridge
might be battered down from some of the many hills about
which command it. If the major-general commanding has
any commands as to the line he wants me to occupy, or the
character of the defenses he desires constructed here, I should
be glad to receive them. I hope within a few days to see him
in the city and explain more fully my views as to the best
defense of this point, but for the present, time is too much
occupied to admit of my leaving.
Very respectfully yours,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
Colonel Commanding.
Lieut.-CoI. H. W. Perkins,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Twentieth Army Corps.
Near Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 22, 1864.
The regiment marched from Wauhatchie Valley at 6:30
A. M. on May 2, 1864, marching via Gordon's MiHs, passing
three miles south of Ringgold. Whilst crossing Taylor's

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 179
Ridge Lieut. Hardenbrook, in charge of a squad of ten men,
surprised the enemy's pickets, capturing three men, together
with some other things. Encamped on the night of the 7th in
front of Dug Gap, where the regiment was held, in expectation
of being engaged, until the morning of the nth; marched at
5 o'clock into Snake Creek Gap; spent part of the day cut
ting out and widening the road; marched then in the direc
tion of Resaca. During the afternoon of the 13th of May we
met the enemy and were shelled by them till late in the even
ing; moved out to the front line; moved to the left and were
placed in position in the front Hne at 10 P. M.; picket firing
during the night without any casualties. On the morning of
the 14th, at dawn of day, brisk skirmishing commenced. Dur
ing the fore part of the day Company D was sent out to ascer
tain the strength and position of the enemy ; had not advanced
far until the firing was so heavy as to compel them to seek
shelter, where they were under the necessity of remaining
untH after night. The regiment at i P. M. was ordered to
advance, but the fire of the enemy was so terrific as to soon
check them and to satisfy all of the strength of the enemy, and
that it was not practicable to attempt to charge them across
an open field with a deep and swampy creek running through
it. The regiment lost during the day three men killed and
thirteen men wounded. A detail worked all night on rifle-
pits. On the morning of the 15th, moved to the extreme left
of the Hne; unslung knapsacks and formed in five fines just
beyond the crest of a hiH in front of the rebel fort and breast
works. At I P. M. the Third Division, Twentieth Army
Corps (with the Seventieth Indiana leading the charge in
front of the fort) charged the fort and earthworks and cap
tured the battery, consisting of two sections, 12-pounder brass
pieces, mounted. During the charge and taking the artillery
out of the fort, the Seventieth Regiment lost, in killed, 26
men; wounded, 126 men and four commissioned officers;
aggregate, 156. On the i8th our forces came in contact with
the enemy near Cassville, and were engaged all day in skirm-

l8o THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ishing and artillery firing, the Seventieth had one man
wounded. May 25th, ran into the enemy in front of Lost
Mountain, near Dallas. On that evening the Seventieth was
not engaged in the fight, yet had one man killed and several
wounded by shells. The regiment was engaged all night
building breastworks. From May 25th to June ist was part
of the time in front line and part of the time in second Hne, and
had her quota on the skirmish line, with loss of only a few
men. The brigade moved to the left from time to time until
the 15th day of June, when our forces advanced on the enemy,
driving him from his first line of works, and about 5 P. M.
drove their skirmishers back into their strong works, at which
time the First Brigade attacked them on the Sandtown road at
Golgotha Church. From some want of a correct knowledge
of the ground or pressure from the left the Seventieth Indiana
was thrown across the Sandtown road in an exposed position
in front of the enemy's masked artillery, where Cleburn's
division fired 135 rounds of shot, shell and canister at our
line during the hour and twenty-five minutes that the regiment
lay in its perilous position. The casualties of the regiment
were 3 commissioned officers and 43 men wounded and 3 men
kHled. From the 15th day of June to the 20th day of July,
the regiment was more or less engaged more or less of the
time in skirmishing, supporting batteries, etc. During that
space of time there was quite a number of casualties. On the
20th day of July the Seventieth was engaged in battle on
Peach Tree Creek; in the formation was in second line, yet
during the engagement, a charge was made and they passed
through the first line, and intrenched themselves on the crest
of the hill in the front line. The regiment lost in that battle
I commissioned officer and 4 privates killed, and 2 commis
sioned officers and 25 men wounded. Total, 32.
On July 22 the Twentieth Corps moved in the direction
of Atlanta till our advance was repulsed by the shot and shell
from the enemy's forts around the city. Our brigade (First)
took a position on the north of the city, and buHt breastworks
midst the bursting sheHs of the enemy's artillery ; participated

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA l8l
in some warm skirmishing, and after a few days advanced
some 200 yards, and built a second line of works. On the
28th our brigade was ordered to the right to support the Fif
teenth Corps, where it remained for oi^p week and then
returned to Atlanta and went into the works west of the Chat
tanooga railroad. The brigade advanced and built two new
and very strong lines of works, with more or less casualties
every day tiU the 25th day of August, when the Twentieth
Corps was ordered to fall back and the Seventieth took a posi
tion on the north side of the Chattahoochee, where our regi
ment was employed in picket duty, and fatigue in unloading
and storing commissaries, ammunition, etc., till the i6th day
of September; marched into Atlanta and went into camp on
the south side of the city. Respectfully submitted,
Z. S. RAGAN,
Major Commanding Seventieth Indiana Vol. Inf.
Headquarters Seventieth Indiana.
Turner's Ferry, Oct. 21, 1864.
Colonel — I have the honor to make the following report
relating to information elicited to-day from a reconnaissance
made by a portion of my force:
The enemy that my men encountered on the 19th appear,
from the discoveries since made, to have been four brigades of
cavalry. Gen. Armstrong, commanding division; Gens. Jack
son, Ferguson and one other General (name unknown), com
manding brigades. They were mounted on mules and horses,
many of them without saddles. They came in on the -Gun
powder road, via Powder Springs, and seemed to have
intended crossing at this and Howell's Ferry, but my detach
ment, meeting their advance guard at two different points,
deployed, drove them back a mile and a half, and doubtless
they were deceived and thought my force to be the advance
of a strong force. They fell back (the citizens say) in great
excitement across or in the direction of Sweet Water. They
crossed their cattle over the Chattahoochee that night about
midnight, yet the force were still encamped seven or eight

l82 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
mHes below here last night. Have no intimations of their
movements or intentions since. The signs of the enemy seen
by my men to-day corroborate the statements of citizens and
negroes in that vicinity. There was no artillery seen; they
had forty-one Union soldiers prisoners, reported to have been
captured at Smyrna.
Very respectfully your obedient servant,
Z. S. RAGAN,
Maj. Commanding Regiment.
Col, F. C. Smith,
Commanding First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth
Army Corps.
Headquarters Seventieth Indiana.
Turner's Ferry, Chattahoochee River, Ga., Oct. 23, 1864.
Lieutenant — In compliance with a request of Gen. Slocum,
I have the honor to transmit the following detailed account of
the skirmishing of part of my command with the rebels on the
19th instant:
About II :30 A. M. information reached me that rebel
cavalry were seen down the river. I ordered out immediately
Capt. Carson, with thirty men instructed to proceed cautiously
down the river at about two miles distant, and parallel the
river. Lieut. Hardenbrook, with thirty men, was ordered
down between Capt. Carson's force and the river, with instruc
tions to support each other in case of necessity. Capt. Tansey
and Lieut. McCracken, with thirty men, were crossed over
the river on the south side, and sent down on that side. After
moving out two miles and a half, Capt. Carson engaged the
advance guard of the enemy. After considerable skirmishing
drove them back one mile and a half near the main force,
where they dismounted and occupied some old works and
houses, and kept up a fight for several hours. During this
time Lieut. Hardenbrook had come in contact with another
party, on or near the river at Howell's Ferry. Toward night
the enemy retreated and fell back onto their main force, which
by this time became apparent from the noise, confusion, and
hallooing, as though they were driving stock. During the

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 183
time that Capt. Carson was so briskly engaged, I sent out
Lieut. Stafford, with fifteen men, to support him, and to pre
vent the enemy flanking or coming around in his rear. Shortly
after this, I received orders from brigade headquarters to
order my men in, and did so. Owing to the fact that my men
were deployed and instructed to keep themselves confined to
the woods, so as not to allow the enemy to ascertain their
strength, together with the bold dash and rapid firing, led the
enemy to suppose they were the skirmish line of a heavy force.
Under this false impression, they pulled up stakes and
marched till 9 o'clock that evening, crossing Sweet Water.
Before, however, they gained shelter under the old breast
works, my men unhorsed a number of them, and a lady, who
lives near where the skirmishing took place, states that they
pressed her wagon to haul off three wounded men, two of
them badly shot through the body, and the other through the
shoulder. They also had an ambulance along, but these were
all the wounded that the lady saw. There were no casualties
on our side. From a reconnaissance made on the 21st by
Lieut. Hardenbrook and forty-five men, he ascertained that at
the time the skirmishing took place that the enemy lay just
below the Howell's Ferry road, and extended from the river to
Mitchell's crossroads, a distance of four miles. They had
some cattle and forty odd prisoners. Had no artillery that we
can learn; were strictly cavalry, without any baggage train;
represented to be three or four brigades, by some as being
3,000 strong.
Among the names of officers in command were Gen. Arm
strong, said to be commanding division; Gens. Jackson and
Ferguson, and one other (the name not given), as com
manders of brigades. Their movement was westward, said
to be in the direction of Blue Mountains, and not to have
crossed the Chattahoochee river. Boasted that they got ahead
of Gen. Kilpatrick this time, etc. Z. S. RAGAN,
Major Commanding Seventieth Ind. Vol. Inf,
Lieut. J. H. Snyder,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

l84 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ITINERARY OF THE TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS,
MAY 3-SEPT. 8.
(From monthly returns. Maj.-Gen. Joseph Hooker com
manded the corps to July 27, 1864; Brig.-Gen. Alpheus S.
WiHiams to Aug. 27, 1864, and Maj.-Gen. Henry W. Slocum,
the remainder of the campaign.)
The corps, heretofore stationed along the line of com
munications from Chattanooga to NashvHle, was about May
3 concentrated (except the Fourth Division, which remained
on the railroad) in the vicinity of Chattanooga, and has taken
an active part in the campaign of the Army of the Cum
berland. May 8 — The Second Division was engaged at Mill Creek
Gap, near Dalton.
May 14 — The First Division engaged on the extreme left
of the army, near Resaca.
May 15 — The whole corps engaged, assaulting the enemy's
works on their extreme left at Resaca; captured the works
and four pieces of artillery. During the night the enemy
withdrew, burning the bridges.
May 16 — Pursuit commenced.
May 25 — Came up with the enemy near Dallas. An attack
was made, in which the whole corps was engaged.
May 26 to 30 inclusive — Held a line in front of the enemy's
works near Dallas; skirmish fire constant and heavy, with
many casualties.
June I — Relieved from the position, the corps assumed in
front of the enemy's works near Dallas; moved to the left in
the direction of Ackworth about five mHes, taking again a
position in the general line.
June 6 — Crossed AHatoona Creek and took position in
front of enemy's works near Pine HiH.
June IS — Pine HiH evacuated by enemy; engaged the
enemy near Lost Mountain; gained position near their
intrenchments. June 17 — Enemy evacuated works in our front, faHing back

CAPTURE OF ATLANTA 185
to a line between Mud Creek and Noye's Creek; corps
advanced and again assumed position in front of them.
June 19 — Enemy evacuated works in our front, faHing back
to a line on the east side of Noye's Creek; corps again
advanced and took position in their front.
June 22 — Corps advanced, driving in enemy's outposts, the
First Division moving to the right. A heavy attack was
made on it by the enemy, which was repulsed with slight
loss to us; enemy retreated to their intrenchments, the corps
taking a position in front of them. At the end of the month
the position remained unchanged. During the whole month
skirmishing with the enemy has been constant and heavy,
with many casualties. Total number of casualties during the
month, 1,544.
July I — Corps still in position in front of the enemy near
Kolb's Farm.
July 3 — Enemy evacuated their works; corps advanced
through Marietta, the Third Division having a slight engage
ment with enemy's rear guard (cavalry and artillery) near
Marietta; the Second Division also skirmishing; assumed
position in front of enemy's works about six miles south of
Marietta. July 5 — Enemy evacuated their works; the corps again
advanced; took position in front of the enemy, who were in
their works on the north side of Chattahoochee River.
July 9 — Enemy withdrew across the river.
July 17 — Corps crossed Chattahoochee River.
July 18 and 19 — Advancing toward Atlanta, skirmishing
with enemy.
July 19 — The Second Division crossed Peach Tree Creek.
July 20 — Balance of corps crossed. Battle of Peach Tree
Creek. July 22 — Enemy evacuated works in our front, retiring to
the fortifications about Atlanta; the corps, following, took up
position in their front.
July 31 — Position remains unchanged.
Casualties for month, 2,007,

l86 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
By general orders from headquarters. Department of the
Cumberland, the artillery of the corps was, on July 27th,
detached from the divisions and organized into an artHlery
brigade, under command of Maj. Reynolds, First New York
Artillery. The whole corps in the trenches in front of Atlanta, Ga.,
occupying 2 3-4 miles of the line until the 25th (August).
August 25 — The corps was moved back to the Chatta
hoochee River to hold the crossing places and guard the rail
road communications, whHe the balance of the army operated
south of Atlanta.
August 26 and 2"^ — Skirmished with enemy, who advanced
to feel our position.
August 28 to 31 inclusive — Skirmishing, occasioned by
daily reconnaissances sent from our position toward the city.
Position unchanged at end of month. Casualties during
month, 240.
September i — Corps in position, covering the crossing of
the Chattahoochee River. First Division, with the First
Brigade, Third Division, at railroad crossing; Second Division
at Pace's Ferry, and the Third Division at Turner's Ferry;
reconnoitering party sent out from the First Division toward
Atlanta; found it still occupied by the enemy.
September 2 — Reconnaissance sent from each division, and
finding the city evacuated, took possession. On this, and the
following day, the whole corps, except the First Brigade,
Third Division, marched into the city and took possession of
the works. This brigade remained at the river to guard the
railroad bridge until the i6th, when it was also ordered up,
leaving one regiment (the One Hundred and Fifth IHinois) to
guard the bridge.

CHAPTER XI,
"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME"
As has been intimated, the hospital was the place the
good soldier dreaded, and even now that nearly two-score
years have softened its mournful memories, shadows never
to vanish linger about the melancholy spot where the sink
ing patriot breathed his last sigh. Yet no history of the
Seventieth Indiana would be complete unless mention were
made of these transitory dwelling places of the sick and
wounded, of the work of the surgeons, and the noble
sacrifices of those nurses who toiled without remunera
tion. To the question of the reader, what can cheer the gloom
of the field hospital, where the dying soldier longs for
home, and tossing in feverish slumbers whispers the name
of sister, wife or mother, memory brings the answer.
Sweet, self-denying patriotism inspired women to come
and bend over the lowly cots and comfort as best they
could the last hours of the departing. The menial services
of bathing the feet of the tired boy, whose earthly march
is well nigh ended, and who is on the brink of a long
journey, has in its ministry a tender grace that makes us
know what angels are. The heavenly sunHght flooding the
rugged landscape, tHl rock and bush and tree take on
celestial beauty, and the roadside pool reflects the azure
dome, is but faintly emblematic of the wondrous power
of woman's holy love.
"Captain," the author asked of a comrade, "what of
all you saw will stay with you longest?" He was silent for
187

l88 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
a moment, and then replied:* "There was a lovely lady
who left her home of comfort and refinement and came to
the army in the field. One day I entered the hospital and
saw her, basin and towel in hand, going from cot to cot,
washing the feet of the sick, the wounded and the dying,
gently preparing the worn out lads to enter the land of
eternal rest. The act was done with such gracious humil
ity, as if it were a privilege, that I turned away with my
eyes full of tears, and I say to you now, that after all other
earthly scenes have vanished, this upon which a radiance
from Heaven falls will abide forever."
The following extracts are from the journal of Mrs. John
L. Ketcham, mother of J. L. Ketcham, Jr., of Company
K, who with Miss Betty Bates, aunt of Maj. S. C, Vance,
spent several months in the hospitals at Gallatin, Tennes
see: "A company was being raised in our neighborhood for
the Seventieth Indiana, All the boys on the hHl around
us and in our Sabbath school, and all the men in the church
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five joined the
company or enHsted in some other regiment. While the
Seventieth was at BowHng Green I worked in the kitchen
at home, putting up quantities of jelly, marmalade, pickles
of every variety, anything that would be a relish with their
bacon, beans, hard tack and rice. I even tried to make
concentrated milk, which the boys thought too good to
dissolve in coffee and ate as candy. As a reHef to this kind
of work I visited the hospitals in the city, and in the even
ing sat in my corner knitting. One Sunday evening some
of the family happened to look at me, and exclaimed at
my knitting, just as on week days. I had heard how the
-¦"Miss Catharine Merrill who died May 30, 1900.

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 189
soldiers suffered for want of socks, and I could not sit still
and think of their cold, bare feet.
"When Dr. Bullard returned from Gallatin and told his
story of the suffering, he asked, 'Are there no two women
who wHl go?' Miss Bates responded at once. I pondered
over it. Leave such a family ? But how many husbands had
left their wives and children; how many sons their homes.
Yes, I could go. I could surely trust the children to those
around and to Providence. I might knit on forever, make
all the good things I could and send boxes, but in a few
weeks' nursing perhaps I could save life. At any rate I
could do far more than I was doing. So Miss Bates and
I were made ready and were off with speed toward our field
of labor.
"Of course we were ignorant, there being no one who
could instruct us; so we had to use our own judgment.
We reached Gallatin at nightfall. Miss Bates said, 'We
are so tired, let us go to a hotel and have a good night's
rest first.' Hotel! There was scarcely a place in town
that was not full to overflowing with sick soldiers. I said,
'Let us go to headquarters and report ourselves at once.'
So we went to the Medical Department. They took us
over to General Paine's tiH they could consider where they
could put us. Somebody gave up his room till we could
be better situated. We hoped better when we saw the
supper and breakfast. A little hill or island of bacon fried
to cracklings in the middle of a lake of grease; cold beans,
biscuit as heavy as lead, muddy coffee that tasted of any
thing but coffee.
"The next day we were taken to the place where we were
to board. Our room was large, airy, had a high ceiHng,
bare floor, with a good bed and a wide fireplace. The

190 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
back stick would last all night, which was weH, for never
was there a stick cut ahead. The wood had to be cut
every morning before the kitchen fire could be started. As
for kindling, they knew nothing better than to spHt off
the chips with their hands, and to wait till the fire burned.
Company K was stationed at PHot Knob, five mHes south
on the NashviHe road. Lew was postmaster, so he had to
come to town often, so I saw him and heard from the rest,
"Our hostess was a lady, pretty, good-natured and very
kind to us, and what was more, kept a good table. Our
host looked like a typical slave hunter, short, stout, with
bushy, standing-up hair. General Dumont had him in
prison three months in Nashville for being a spy. I have
no doubt he was. He was a personal friend of General
Morgan. His doors were never locked at night, and I
felt they were left open that Morgan might run in at any
time for safety, or for a good square sleep. I would think
sometimes I heard him coming in.
"They put us in charge of a female seminary building.
It was packed with cots, and on every cot was a sick man.
Even the platform where the piano had stood was full. It
seemed to me when I went into this room in the morning
I took my life in my hands, or else it was really in God's
hands. The doctors told me I must take something to
prevent that poisonous atmosphere taking hold of me. I
talked with my brother. He said his idea was, that when
the system let down after the stimulating effect was off,
was the time one took disease. That agreed with my idea;
so I never took anything, and before we were through
every doctor in town had his turn of typhoid fever, and
I was the only one who kept entirely weH.
"The men and everything looked pitifully dirty, but

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 19I
it 'would take time to straighten them out, and I'd have
to begin very slowly. I had the soldier nurse take one
man, wash him aH over and prop him up by the fireside,
whHe he sunned and washed the bed and floor underneath,
I felt panic struck — ^what if the man should die? it would
end my work there. But he lived and looked more com
fortable; and the cleaning process went on as rapidly as
possible. "It was coming Christmas time. I said to Betty, 'The
way to men's hearts is said to be through their stomachs.
Let us give them a Christmas dinner.' How she did laugh.
'A Christmas dinner, out of what?' I did not know. The
road was broken, no suppHes coming in, but we could try.
I consulted with the head ones, and they aH tried to get
lambs and chickens for us. When the animals came they
were so scrawny, but little else beside skin and bone.
Boiling was the only possible way of cooking anything,
so we'd cook them together; perhaps a little of the rich
ness of the lamb would be imparted to the chicken. When
they were done they were separated and different gravies
were made, and so were served up, and the eaters were
none the wiser. Mrs. Paine offered her daughter to help
wait on the table, and she brought veritable tea and loaf
sugar. I had brought plenty of both, but took hers. We
had a strip of white muslin for a tablecloth, and a bless
ing, which made it seem more homelike. The pitiful looks
of the lamb and chicken I can never forget. One little
disagreement came up. The doctors and Betty wanted
eggnog for dessert. I said I would not have anything to
do with that ; so I would take charge of those who were too
sick to leave their beds. The sick and wounded soldiers
ate first, then came the soldier nurses. When the doctors

192 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
came to eat, Io and behold the nurses had drunk all the
eggnog. The consequence was they were in bed all after
noon sleeping off their nog. The doctors were mad, and
I laughed, but only in my sleeve.
"One of my first suggestions was to make all clean on
Saturday, preparatory to keeping the Sabbath. Everybody
said, 'What's the use?' I said, 'Keeping the Sabbath was
one of the army regulations.' We could not have much to
eat; Morgan had the road, so we could not get anything
from home, even letters, but we could be clean. So every
Saturday night there was a grand cleaning up, and the
sick in their cots, the men on the fence in their clean white
shirts, looked so comfortable. Betty was taken to a church
full of sick men, as it did not seem right to put so much
force into one building. The doctors showed me jars and
jars of tapioca, and asked, 'What do you do with this?'
I said, 'I'll see,' but I could have done better, only we had
so few apples. Some kind of a pudding was made, and the
men Hked it, but said they would like the apples just as
well without that stuff around them. I told them the
doctors said it was good for them. There was no need
saying how plenty tapioca was and how scarce apples were.
The man in charge of the store room said, 'What do you
do with these?' showing little bags of dried elderberries.
I knew people did use them, but I never had seen or tasted
one. I said, 'Give some to me and some jelly.' So I saw
to the stewing and the seasoning with jelly, and had the
cook make pies for the nurses. Their's is a hard berth, and
they were so grateful. Give a Hoosier man a pie! One
evening the ghost of a man was flitting in and out of the
shadow of the stairway in the hall. At last, when I was
passing, he got up courage enough to say, 'Could I have

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 193
a piece of pie? I go home to-morrow.' As if they would
not feed him on pie there.
"On Sunday, as much as I could, I went around and
read from the Bible or hymn book. Once when I read the
Thirty-seventh Psalm one man said, 'Where is that?'
Truly it had never seemed so impressive to me. One
Sunday I was going through the hall and met one of the
doctors rubbing his hands and saying, 'It is wonderful
what a woman can do.' Once when I was reading a hymn
to a sick soldier another said, 'I shouldn't wonder if she
could sing.' So I sang. A dying man, who had noticed
nothing, evidently heard it.*
"The fame of our Christmas dinner went through all
the churches and storeroom hospitals, and they spoke of
it so enviously that I said, 'I will come around and give
a dinner out of the best you have to every one of you.'
So I did. The church next me was the Erysipelas Hos
pital. I dreaded to go in there. One man said, 'Have you
any more of that stuff you used to fix with apples when I
was in your hospital?' I said, 'I do not remember you.
He said, 'I am the one you gave the pillow to.' I remem
bered then that when two men were brought in, I said,
'There is but one blanket and one pillow. I shall have to
give the blanket to one man and the piHow to the other.'
"Our landlady, hearing so much of the sick soldiers, and
wishing to know what was going on in her town, invited
herself to go around with us. So we took her into several
houses. There were thirteen hospitals in all. One of the
most direful rooms was up a steep and narrow stair; a
storeroom over a store, rough, dark, large, with low ceil-

*She had a very sweet voice.

194 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ing, and fiHed to the utmost. One bright-eyed soldier
said, 'I wish I could get well. My mother needs me; my
brother died in the army, and she has nobody home with
her but a brother too young to know how to help her
much.' He never got home. When we got to the foot of
the stairs our companion's strength was gone, and she
leaned against the house and said, 'Oh Lordy!' How often
I have thought the same thing.
"When the road was broken what longing there was for
letters. We wrote many for the sick. When the road was
open he was happiest who got the most. One old man for
whom I had written had been longing to hear. I said
'Why, you got a letter.' 'Yes, but it didn't tell no news.'
He never got home either. His wife wrote me a grateful
letter after I got back. They were Kentuckians.
"The kitchen like all Southern kitchens was away from
the house, I was standing in the door one morning when
I saw Lew spring from his horse. While he was tying the
animal to a sapling, two men were talking. 'Do you bet
he'll go round and come through the house, or make
straight for his mother through that mud? I'll bet he'll
pull straight through.' I felt a little anxious, but here he
came through the soft deep mud straight as an arrow to
the mark.
"They must have a visit from us at Pilot Knob. So we
were taken down in their coach and four, which was an
army wagon. Found their parlor, bed room and all the
premises swept and garnished. The Captain had vacated
his tent for us. Jerry, his servant, had brought home a
turkey for the occasion, to his surprise. 'Why,' said the
Captain, 'where did you get this?' 'I was jis gwine long and
he up and bit me. I wasn't gwine to have none of that, so I

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 195
jis captured him.' So we had roast turkey with corn bread
dressing. We enjoyed it all sitting on boxes around the
table out of doors. The view was fine.
"On our return to Gallatin we found that our escort.
Lew and his friends, would be late in getting back to PHot
Knob, and he had not the countersign. What could he do?
Miss Bates, who had the courage for any emergency, said,
I'll go into the office and ask. An officer gave it to her on
a scrap of paper and said, 'Now what if he should be at
tacked on the way back? Do you realize the risk? If
they should get this it would go like light, and bring us no
end of trouble.' 'I understand,' she said, 'he will swallow
it' "After the HartsviHe fight eight men were brought in
with their legs shot off above the knee, two to our hospital.
One died immediately, the other lingered on. The artery
was tied again and again, but would stHl slough off. Then
he lay white and still; might bleed to death at any moment.
I read hymns, placing myself so that the sound of my voice
might surely reach him, and he not see the distressed sym
pathy in my face. In reading 'O Mother Dear, Jerusa
lem,' when I would come to that line, 'O God, if I were
there,' it thrilled me so I could hardly bear it. When I
read, 'On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,' I thought I heard
a sound, but he was so weak I did not like to ask if he
spoke, when a nurse sitting on the floor by the fire, with
head all shaven from erysipelas, and face aH discolored
with iodine, said: 'He said read it again.' .There was an
old green house on our ground. About all that was left
was a rose geranium 'blooming alone.' I daily plucked
some of those leaves and took to him. They looked
green and fresh and their fragrance is rare. The nurse

196 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
said, 'He held them in his fingers aH night long.' I came
in one morning, he was not there. The nurse said, 'He
held on to them greens to the last, and told me I was to
give his respects to you.'
"Brother sent in to me to come down again to PHot
Knob, as Robert Cathcart was very sick. He took me to
a cabin that I should think had been there in George Wash
ington's time. They had got a kind of a lounge for
Robert, but he had to He with his head to the fire. When
I was starting our Doctor said take everything you want.
So I did. I thought rice would be good for them. But
as I was opening my stores, my brother looking on, said
of the rice, 'You might as well pour that out; the boys have
had so much they are sick of it.' One half of the cabin was
shut off by a board across, and inside of that was covered
with straw, so those who were nearly down sick could sleep
there better than in their tents. One coughed so badly
I didn't see how anybody could sleep. I watched the sick
man, and the process of getting supper. It was mostly
flapjacks, flour stirred up in cold water, a little salt, then
poured into a long handled frying pan, well greased and
hot. When thought to be brown, by a sleight of hand,
which must have been learned from the darkies, the cook
gave the pan a toss and turned it over. I was so stunned
with the idea of their eating such food that I did not notice
what else they had. Yes, black coffee strong as lye. And
these boys and men made their supper and slept so. John
Cleland among them as white as a sheet.
"The next morning Brother and I sat on a pile of limbs
and held a consultation. 'Do you see that farm house
away off there?' 'Yes.' 'Now I think we could get you
and Robert in there. Would you be wHIing to stay there

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 197
and take care of him? The road is torn up so his sisters
cannot get to him.' I replied, 'I would not. First, I would
have no material to work with; next, while he would have
the best attention in town, I can do so much good beside.'
I really felt that never in my life had I done the good I
was doing there. 'But,' he said, 'he has got it into his
head that no man gets out of a hospital alive, and he won't
go.' I said, 'Say nothing to him about it, but get every
thing ready, and lift him right into the cart.' I do not
know what Robert thought, his eyes looked very bright.
They fixed a nice bed and carried him out and laid him in.
I put my veil over his face to shield him from the bright
sunfight. Our horse was an old white one, and the har
ness was made of old clothes lines.
"The soldiers were out on a grand parade as we neared
town. The music set our horse to dancing, and our cart
would tip most uncomfortably. So grand and imposing
was the sight of the review, it seemed to me it must be the
whole Army of the Cumberland. Is there a finer sight?
The horses seem made for the men, and the men for the
horses. Their arms gfittered in the sunlight, the horses
seemed to know it, bowed their necks and pranced in their
proud gladness. But our poor nag was not accustomed
to such magnificence, and we for protection against his
antics had to back up among the convalescents by a church
hospital, so closely wedged in we could not move, Frank
Gillett holding him by the mouth. Miss Bates, who was
looking out of the window at us, overheard two soldiers
talking. One said, pointing to our cart, 'That's one of
them nurses. Now I shouldn't wonder if she rode in her
own carriage at home.' When we got to my hospital they
came out and carried Robert most tenderly upstairs into

198 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the best room in the house. After he was fixed I sat down
on a window sill in the hall and how I did cry. I had taken
the whole responsibility on myself, but what a good be
ginning. One morning I was in his room, the door open
ed and a voice called out, 'Did  die in this room?
My heart stood still. I glanced at Robert. His startled
eyes shone through his bushy hair. When the nurse
answered, 'No, we don't die in this room,' what a relief!
"It was difficult to get things palatable; however, the
worst was better than camp Hfe fare. I would have the
bread toasted, the meat would have to be boiled; of course
the water was rich and nutritious. There was no way to
manage soup, so the toast was dipped in this water and
served as quickly as possible. Then I had them cut off
sHces of raw beef, and those who sat around the fire put
them on long sticks and thus broHed them. They looked
good and formed a change from the everlasting boHed beef.
One day the bread was raw, it could not be eaten, so I
went all through with a small allowance of crust and asked
if they knew it was fast day? * * *
"I have always been thankful for the privHege of doing
what I did. I have often heard women say they could not
realize there had been a war. I can."
Mrs. Ketcham, Madam: As I had not an opportunity of
seeing you before you left, I take pleasure in expressing to
you by letter the thanks that I feel you ought to receive for
your kindness in visiting our post, and for the care and atten
tion you gave the sick in the different hospitals under my
charge. You came at a time when, above all others, your
services were most needed. Our hospitals were but just
organized. We had but four surgeons; few and incompetent
attendants ; our wards fiHed to overflowing. We had scarcely
any cooking utensHs, indeed none of the conveniences neces-

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 199
sary for the comfort and cleanliness of a general hospital.
Everything looked wretched and discouraging in the extreme.
Yourself and our dear Miss Bates lent yourselves nobly to
the work. We began to advance in the way of improvement
from that time. Cleanliness, cooking, neatness, all grew bet
ter, and, last but not least, the men began to be more cheer
ful, because there was a woman around, two of them in fact,
and working women at that. Many a soldier now in the
field will remember with gratitude the kindness received at
your hands ; and many of our gallant dead have been soothed
and comforted in their dying hour by your presence and
thoughtful attention.
AHow me. Madam, in behalf of the sick you have so kindly
attended, and of the surgeons and officers of the different hos
pitals whom you have so materially assisted, to tender you our
most hearty thanks. Hoping that you may ever have friends
as kind to you as you have been to us, that your life may be
long, happy and useful, and that God in his mercy may choose
you for His own in death,
Most respectfully, ever your friend,
S. M. HAMILTON,
Medical Director, Gallatin, Tenn,
J. E. Cleland: "It must have been the summer of '63
when Harry Meteer of Company I, was sent to the hospital
with the malady which carried so large a proportion of our
army to the lazar house and beyond. The doctors diag
nosed an ulcer on every quarter inch of his intestinal gear
ing. His digestive apparatus couldn't turn a wheel, and he
was strictly forbidden to swallow anything but toast and
boiled milk, but he had a howling and continuing craving
for all real and imaginary food, Hke a chronic drunkard
ravenous for drink. Quantities of microby water, butter
milk, hard fried eggs, green vegetables and fruits were
devoured on the sly, when occasion could be found. The

200 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
surgeons were amazed, and the nurses horrified, as, from
his own mouth and other sources, damaging evidence of
his transgressions abundantly flowed. Daily he wasted
away, until there was left little promise in him of any
further soldierly or other value. Only the regulation
amount of bones and enough hide to hold them together
were left.
"Some flattering obituary notices of him circulated in
the North and drifted back to camp, but he thought it
hardly worth while to make any denial, as a little previous-
ness was aH that seemed the matter with the necrological
facts. His soul, or some other organ of his inner empti
ness cried out for relief of some kind, and even death
seemed less grim and forbidding than of old. The sick
were expected to eat what, and only what, the surgeons
prescribed, and Hobson, the nurse, was faithful to his trust
and to the doctors. So when Meteer was heard to crunch
green apples in the stiHness of the night, and when a large
supply of half-grown fruit was found under his piHow, the
wrath of Hobson was consuming. He not only predicted
death, but seemed to derive some satisfaction in the antici
pation. In reply, Meteer, in a thin, but resolute voice,
squeaked out, 'I may die, but I wiH not die empty, and here
goes for the rest of that peck of apples.' He refused to
furnish the fulfillment of Hobson's prophecy, and his voice,
now fuH and strong, may stiH be heard every Sunday
preaching to other sinners, in Utah, if you happen to pass
that way. The medical moral of this would seem to be,
that unripe apples are good for some sick soldiers, at some
times, under some circumstances."
D. M. RansdaH, Company G: "At Resaca I was stand
ing on my left foot and right knee, engaged in putting a

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 20I
percussion cap on my gun, the piece resting across my left
leg, my left hand holding the cap, and my right the gun,
with my thumb on the hammer, which was drawn back. I
was thinking of but one thing, and that was to get ready to
shoot as quickly as possible. I had forgotten all about
danger. Just as I got the cap on I had a sudden sensation
as though I had been struck a smart blow across my right
wrist with a stick. The next instant the gun fell out of
my hand and I noticed the blood gushing in spurts from
the wrist. Physiology having been one of my favorite
studies in Frankhn College, from which I had entered the
army, I knew at once that an artery had been cut, and I
seized the forearm above the wound with my left hand, and
compressed it so as to stop the hemorrhage. I felt little
pain owing, I suppose, to my excitement.
"Being now disarmed and wounded, and so unable to
continue the fight, I began to reaHze something of the sur
rounding dangers and my peril from them. Looking
about me as best I could under the circumstances I reached
the conclusion that the proper time had come for me to re
tire, and that if I did not get away with some expedition I
might be killed or captured. WhHe I still hesitated I
noticed Tom Clark of my company, not more than four
feet away on the right. He was lying on his stomach, with
head up and gun presented, evidently watching for a
chance to make an effective shot. As I looked at him a
ball struck him in the throat, and as it entered his vitals, he
uttered such a hideous scream as I never heard before or
since. It killed him instantly. I waited no longer.
"This incident decided my course and accelerated my
movements. I could see no place of refuge. The few
trees there already protected all they could cover. There

202 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
were bushes, but they afforded no shelter, the most of them
having already been cut off by the buHets, as though a
woodman had passed through with an ax. It was certain
death to stand up, the balls were flying so thickly. But
one way of escape presented itself and that I adopted.
Lying down flat on the ground I proceeded to roH down
the hiH the best way I could. I think it must have been
nearly one hundred yards. When I reached the foot I got
up and ran across, and down the valley still holding my
arm. It seems a miracle that I escaped being hit again,
for the bullets were humming through the air in a fearful
way. I foHowed the valley a short distance untH a bend
to the left took me to a place of safety. As I passed on I
encountered General Hooker, who was sitting on a horse,
with his feet out of the stirrups, studying a map, 'My
boy,' said he in a kindly voice, 'you are wounded. You
will find an ambulance to take you to the hospital by fol
lowing this road.'
"I had not proceeded far when I met our chaplain, Rev.
Archibald C. Allen, one of the best men that ever lived.
He was provided with lint and bandages, and at once took
me in charge, gently binding up my wounds, and then mak
ing a sling, in which I could carry my arm, suspended it
from my neck. He gave me explicit instructions how to
find the ambulance, and at last I reached it, but it was al
ready fuH. The driver offered me a seat beside him, which
I accepted, and in this manner was conveyed to the hos
pital, a large field tent in the woods, and I think nearly two
miles from where I was wounded.
"It was now about five o'clock. I was strong and vigor
ous, being in good health and only twenty years old, and
felt so little apprehension about myself now that I was safe-

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 203
ly in the hospital, that I went about looking at those who
appeared to be worse hurt than I was, and assisting to ad
minister to their wants in various ways. Quite a number
were from my own company and regiment, and their con
dition, lying there so helpless, awakened my liveliest sym
pathy. But by dark my wound was causing me much pain.
It was not until then that I noticed that my hand had
turned black, and was greatly swollen. It had not oc
curred to me that I might lose my arm until I saw the sur
geons cutting off the limbs of others. When I realized
this danger, I hastened to Dr. Reagan, our regimental sur
geon, and asked him to examine my wound. As soon as
he looked at it, he said the arm would have to be ampu
tated to save my life. The minie ball in passing through
the wrist the long way had knocked out the bones of the
joint, and made a bad wound. I had faith in our surgeon,
but the idea that I must lose my arm was so preposterous
that I was not satisfied until I went to the brigade surgeon,
Dr. Potter, who confirmed what Dr. Reagan had said. I
cannot describe my feelings, when I fuHy understood that
I was really to lose my good right arm. I was only a boy,
with my own way to make in the world, and to be thus dis
abled at the start, depressed me as no words can express.
The present suddenly grew very dark, and my whole future
appeared to be blotted out. And yet, as I thought it over,
the feeHng came back that life was stiH dear to me. The
surgeons had pronounced it a choice between Hfe and
death, and I chose the former.
"When aH was ready I went to the dissecting table,
where chloroform was administered and the limb taken off
midway between the wrist and elbow. It was the first
operation performed after the candles were lighted. As I

204 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
came to consciousness, I experienced a most delicious sen
sation. I felt as though I had been floating for hours in a
place given up wholly to a delightful existence. It was
some time before I noticed my pain, and then it was only
slight; but the next day it was severe enough. I was also
uncomfortable otherwise, being compeHed to lie flat on my
back, with nothing but a rubber blanket under me.
"The first night a sergeant of my company came and said
that he had seen my brother Wharton shot and kiHed dur
ing the engagement. This added greatly to my unhap
piness. I had not only lost my arm, but also my brother.
The thought was agony. The next day as I awoke out of
a deep sleep, I became dimly conscious that a famiHar form
was bending over me, and when at last my eyes were fully
opened, I discovered who it was. It was my brother! So
firmly was the idea of his death fixed in my mind that for a
moment it seemed as if I myself must be in the spirit land,
but when he said 'Dan,' in the weH remembered voice, I
knew that we were both still in the flesh, and my joy was
boundless. I had given up all hope of ever experiencing
such a sensation again, and this reaction made the enjoy
ment aH the greater. My brother who was dead, was now
alive. All else was forgotten in the ecstasy produced by
thig knowledge. It afterward transpired that the sergeant
who had brought me the false report of his death had re
ceived a sHght concussion of the brain from a shot or shell,
and for a time was partially demented, his insanity taking
the form of imagining that he saw different members of his
company kiHed, who, in fact, remained unhurt.
"Presently, when I had recovered a little from my ex
citement, I asked my brother to lift me up from the cot.
Every bone in my body ached, and I felt as flat as a wafer.

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 205
He objected. He said it was dangerous, and urged me to
lie stiH. I insisted, and at last commanded. FinaHy he
yielded and called a nurse, with whose assistance I was
lifted and placed upon my feet. Then I fainted. After
this experience I obeyed orders, and kept quiet, but the
next day I felt much better, and it soon became apparent
that I was making a good recovery. I progressed so
rapidly that I was able to sit up on the fourth day and write
a letter to my mother. On the same day I left that hos
pital and went to another at Resaca, whence, after a few
days I was sent by rail to Chattanooga. Two days later
I proceeded to Nashville. The surgeon at Chattanooga
remonstrated, declaring that I was not able to stand the
journey; but I was determined to go, and he talked to
heedless ears. I was homesick, and NashvHle was in the
direction of home. I was too impatient to wait for a hos
pital train, and took a passenger, which was so crowded
that three persons occupied my seat much of the time.
We were a day and a night making the journey, and the
discomforts were great. I suffered from pain, hunger and
thirst, and had no one to look after my wants in any way.
"When I arrived at the NashviHe hospital my appear
ance was not at all inviting. I was coatless. What little
clothing I had on was ragged and dirty. My hair was long
and uncombed. I was emaciated to a degree that made me
look cadaverous, and my arm having been neglected for
more than twenty-four hours, was in a terrible condition.
I was suffering by this time, in body and mind in a way
that makes me shudder even now as I recaH it. I was
given some food, and an hour later a young smart Aleck
surgeon came in. He looked me over carelessly as I lay

2o6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
on a cot, and his first question was, 'What's the matter
with you?'
" 'You can see what is the matter,' I answered in a tone
which did not conceal my wrath at being asked such a
question. 'How does it feel,' was the next interrogation,
as he set about removing the bandages. 'It feels Hke the
nervous toothache.' 'Did you ever have any toothache
that was not nervous?'
"This play upon my words and the patronizing tone in
which he spoke, made me madder than ever. I was ready
to swear. 'Where were you shot?' was his next question.
'Can't you see it was through the wrist?' 'What is the
nature of the wound?' By this time he had the bandage
off and was looking at it, 'A minie ball passed through
the corpus, fracturing both the ulna and the radius,' I
answered. "Looking at me sharply, he went on silently with his
work of dressing the wound for two or three minutes and
then asked, 'Did you ever study medicine?' 'No,' I
answered indignantly. Then I broke out, 'Do you think a
man must be a damned fool unless he has studied medi
cine?' He gave me another sharp look as I said this, but
asked me no more questions. When he had completed his
task he went away. Not long afterward a sweet faced sis
ter of charity came, and said that she had been sent by the
surgeon to take care of me, with instructions to give me
every attention. My swearing seemed to have had a good
effect on the smart young surgeon, as simHar utterances
are reputed to have upon the army mule.
"I shall never forget the good woman he sent to me.
She nursed me faithfully and tenderly. Every tone of her
low voice, every touch of her gentle hand, every look of

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 207
her sympathetic eyes was an inspiration to get well, so that
I was soon on the road to recovery again. In a few days I
had improved so much that I was forwarded to the hospital
at JeffersonviHe, Indiana. This time I traveled in a hos
pital train, equipped with every convenience and comfort
for patients, and provided with surgeons and nurses.
"I had been only three days at JeffersonvHle when my
father found me. He tried to conceal his emotion as he
approached me; but the mingled expressions of tenderness
and anxiety on his face were such that they remain photo
graphed on my mind to this day. He was as much re
joiced to find me as I was to see him.
"On the ninth of June, twenty-four days after I was
wounded, I reached the hospital at Indianapolis, and the
next morning my mother, who lived in the vicinity of New
Bethel, some eight miles away, was at my side. She wept
as she looked at what remained of my arm, but she wiped
away her tears and rejoiced when she had time to realize
that my life had been spared. It was not so sad to have
me brought home a cripple, as it would have been, had I
come a corpse, as was the case with so many who had gone
away with me to the war. As she reflected on this it
brought her relief. I confess, too, that I found it a subject
of no Httle congratulation to be safely at home, after the
scenes of death and suffering through which I had passed."
A lad who entered the hospital at Resaca gives an ex
perience that reflects little credit on the refinement, the dis
cernment and the sympathy of an attending surgeon. On
the morning of the battle, this boy had put on a striped
shirt that had not been worn before, the colors of which
were anything but fast. During the battle, while he was
lying as close to the ground as possible, with his face to the

2o8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
enemy, an enfilading buHet perforated his body in such a
way as, without touching a bone, to make four painful but
not serious wounds. The previous long march through
the heat and dust, the race up hHl, the perspiration conse
quent, and the flow of blood, extracted all the colors from
the shirt and imparted them to his person, so that his ap
pearance was frightful beyond description. WhHe he was
lying on his face in the hospital a group of doctors passed
through, deciding what cases demanded immediate atten
tion. One of them threw back the blanket that covered
him and exclaimed, "There's no use doing anything for this
fellow! He's mortified already." Even now the veteran
in teHing the story admits a lingering feeling of mortifica
tion caused by the rude act and unfeefing language of the
physician. In an interview with A. W. Reagan, Surgeon of the
Seventieth Indiana, the foHowing facts were eficited.
"There were five assistant surgeons mustered into the
service at different times, but most of them resigned after
a few months. Dr. John M. White, who came to stay, was
a man of mild disposition, always attentive to his duties and
very kind to any who appHed to him for help. He was put
in charge of Hospital No. one in Gallatin, where in failing
health he continued his work until his death.
"Dr. Jenkins A. Fitzgerald came to the regiment whHe
we were at Nashville, Tenn., and took part in all its marches
and campaigns to the end of the war. He was well quali
fied and faithful in his duties, and as brave as a lion. On
the first day's fight at Resaca, he went to the front Hne to
assist some of the wounded, and as soon as he had them
started to the rear, he picked up a gun and began firing at
the enemy. He received a wound in the shoulder, but

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 209
could not be persuaded to leave the field, and finally had to
be ordered to the rear. After the war ended, he was ap
pointed Assistant Surgeon in the regular army, and was
filling that position when he died at Washington Barracks,
Penn., in 1879.
"The morale of the Seventieth was equal to that of any
regiment, and superior to many, and the physical condition
of the men was exceHent. The Government took good
care to have on hand all the medicines and surgical instru
ments we required. The town boys were less likely to en
ter the hospital than the boys who came from the country ;
for instance, the members of Company E, who came largely
from the city, were hard to get into the hospital, and hard
to hold in, for they had been accustomed to taking life in
a rough and tumble way, hence did not yield to any simple
ailment; whereas the country boys had been used to lead
ing a quiet Hfe in their homes, hence took better care of
themselves when sick. The town boys stood disease and
hardship better for the first half of the service, but after
that the difference was not noticeable. The articles of
clothing and food sent from home by friends and neighbors
of our men were beneficial, not only because they were
needful, but as an assurance that the people at home were
thinking of them, they were an encouragement and a
stimulus. "There was but little, if any, profanity among the men
in the hospital ; I would not allow it in the first place, but
the men were not inclined to indulge in it. There was a
great difference between diseases contracted at home and
in the field. Those contracted in the field were of greater
intensity, and the systems of the men were less able to bear
the diseases. The enervating action of the service rendered

2IO THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the men less able to resist the encroachments of disease.
Some of our men died from want of fruits and vegetables
while we were in Kentucky and Tennessee. The men es
pecially suffered thus while we were encamped in and
around Gallatin during the winter and spring of 1862 and
'63; but it was on the Atlanta campaign that they suffered
most for the want of vegetables. Many sickened and had
to be sent back, some to die; while some recovered appar
ently, but the dregs of disease, scurvy, etc., were in their
systems. "Not alone was disease difficult to deal with successfully,
but wounds did not heal kindly, and many deaths resulted
from the unfavorable situation. If the systems of the men
had been in good healthy condition, as is the case with peo
ple who are at home, and have sufficient food, fruit, vege
tables, etc., many who died from wounds and disease would
have got well. This was especially noticeable on the At
lanta campaign, for it was not the bullet bringing instant
death that occasioned the greatest loss, but the privation,
the exposure, the want of the necessaries of life, that ruined
constitutions and gave to disease and wounds fatal termi
nation. There were cases when men died from very sHght
sickness or wounds, and it was not surprising to the phy
sicians, for the powers of resistance to disease or pain had
been brought to a very low ebb. The ration at no time
was more than just enough to maintain life, and on the At
lanta campaign it did not come up to this, so if in addition,
one will take into consideration the exposure to the
weather, and the intense strain on the nervous system, it
will not be thought strange that men sometimes died from
slight causes, or that those who survived were left with im
paired health and broken constitutions.

"I WAS SICK AND YE VISITED ME" 211
"The hospitals were often so close to the front line in a
battle as to be endangered by the shells, and even the minie
baHs of the enemy. This was the case especiaHy at Kene
saw Moiuntain and Averasborough, where, while we were ex-
aming, operating on and dressing the wounded, shells
passed over and burst beyond us, and some passed close to
us, and often burst where we were working. Minie balls
rained around us; we did not stop, but worked on, taking
our chances. The rebels who' got into our hospital were
treated precisely in the same way as our own men.
"When we were in camp for a while at one place, the
men would sicken, and the hospitals would soon be fuH; but
as we moved to another place, or started on the march,
health improved at once. In fact the period when the men
enjoyed the best health was on the longest, hardest march.
More died from typhoid fever than from any other disease.
A few died from homesickness pure and simple, but quite a
number becoming depressed and reduced in health from
that cause, proved an easy prey to any disease to which
they might be exposed. Some had become so prostrated,
before a discharge could be secured, that they died after
reaching home.
"The convalescents generaHy wanted to return to camp,
quite a large proportion before they were well enough.
Not more than three per cent were wiHing to remain in the
hospital. The dying often expressed themselves as being
satisfied with having given their lives for their country.
Chaplain AHen was always cheerful. He would come to
the hospital and speak words of comfort and encourage
ment to the men.
"The day that made the most vivid impression on my
mind, was the day we left Atlanta on the March to the Sea.

212 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
After reaching the outskirts, I stopped, turned and looked
back at the ruined city. The conflagration, the cutting
loose from our base of supplies, the going whither we did
not know, affected me profoundly. Every one around me
was deeply impressed, yet aH seemed to be inspired by the
thought that they were to have a part in a great under
taking."

CHAPTER XII.
THE MARCH TO THE SEA
The feeling so vividly described by Dr. Reagan in the
last chapter, stirred every soul as Sherman's army moved
away from the ill-fated city. Even now, the participants in
the great events and greater results immediately following,
have no language to describe their emotions, — they only say,
the incident of my life worthy of mention is the March to
the Sea.
A conversation between two veterans of the Seventieth
Indiana makes a revelation more luminous than any de
scription. "Would you part with your experience for a
thousand dollars?" The man addressed was poor. To
him a hundred doHars was a large sum. "Well-a-why-
no!" "For a hundred thousand?" "Why, no!" "For a
million?" "No! There's not enough money in the world
to buy from me the consciousness that I had a part in driv
ing the dagger into the heart of the RebeHion." Then as
if he thought his manner had been too boastful, or that he
might be plucking a leaf from General Sherman's laurels,
he added: "God knows I could not do much, for I was
only a private, but I did what I could in the death blow that
made the Southern soldiers know their cause lost; Jeff
Davis could not protect their homes."
As to the envious rivals of Columbus, the discovery of
America seemed an easy affair after its execution, so now
adays this expedition is sometimes beHttled and spoken of
as a holiday excursion. Lincoln feared. Grant doubted.
None but the dauntless Sherman dared put fate to the
213

214 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
touch. The London Herald voiced the sentiment of the
outside world, when it proclaimed: "The name of the
captor of Atlanta, if he fails now, will become the scoff of
mankind, and the humHiation of the United States for aH
time. If he succeeds, it wiH be written on the tablet of
fame side by side with that of Napoleon and Hannibal."
It amazes one to see Americans who speak of Thomas'
noble qualities, turn aside to fling a stone at Sherman, or
Grant, or Sheridan. The four were great. Why try to
lift one hero at the expense of another illustrious reputa
tion? Altogether Sherman's army numbered 62,204, and con
sisted of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth and
Twentieth Corps, and two divisions of the Sixteenth which
were assigned to the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps.
The artillery trains had charge of sixty-five field guns.
Each soldier carried forty rounds of ammunition, and in
the wagons there were two hundred rounds for each man.
The veterans and recruits of the Twenty-seventh Indiana,
one hundred and nineteen in number, had their names
transferred to the rolls of the Seventieth on November
fifth, but they did not join the regiment until the moming
after the start from Atlanta.
It is interesting to read the following frantic Proclama
tion from the man who was so prominent in the reduction
of Fort Sumter. Corinth, Nov. 18, 1864.
To the People of Georgia: Arise for the defense of your
native soil! Rally round your patriotic Governor and gal
lant soldiers! Obstruct and destroy all roads in Sherman's
front, flank and rear, and his army wiU soon starve in your
midst! Be confident and resolute! Trust in an overruling

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 215
Providence, and success wHl crown your efforts. I hasten to
join you in defense of your homes and firesides.
G. T. BEAUREGARD.
J. M. WiHs: "All the rations we drew on the fifteenth
of November was plenty of coffee."
U. H. Farr: "It was nearly dark when we marched out
on the road toward Stone Mountain, as we were the last of
the army to leave Atlanta. No halt was made during the
night, nor the next day, nor the next night, but only such
stops as were necessary to aHow the wagon trains to get
out of a mud hole, or to mend a broken bridge. Such
pauses afforded no time for cooking, eating or resting.
By the morning of the second day we were tired out, and
the halt then only lasted a few hours. The weather, as a
general thing, was all that could be asked, the roads were
dry and usually hard, the country full of forage of almost
every kind, corn, sweet potatoes, the finest in the world,
pigs, fat hogs, cattle, once in awhile a fat goat, honey,
molasses, and during the last two weeks, rice. The march
ing was almost continuous night and day, being regulated
by the movements of the wagon and artHlery trains.
When the nights were dark, the fences along the road
made good bonfires to march by, and if a halt of a few min
utes was assured us, the opportunity was seized to make
coffee, to boH sweet potatoes and meat, and even to cook a
pot of mush. We made messes no cook could name, but
the variety of food added a spice to our lives."
Lieutenant J. I. WiHs: "On the way to Savannah our
regiment happened when we had an all night march, to be
in the rear of the army. About midnight we passed a large
house which was on fire and halted for a few moments a
hundred yards beyond. The air was very chilly, and an of-

2l6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ficer who was marching by my side said, 'Let us go back to
that fire to rest,' but I answered, 'I don't intend to take a
backward step on this march if I can help it.' His reply
was, 'I am cold and I am going back.' Overcome by
fatigue and the warmth, he fell asleep, and as he was one of
the kind a cannon or an earthquake has trouble in waking,
the regiment marched off and left him. When he awoke
all was as silent as the grave. He was in a horrible
dilemma, for there were several roads leading from that
house, but by luck the right one was taken. He said, 'The
rest of that night, and until he caught up late the next day,
he could almost feel the rope tightening around his neck,
with three or four guerrillas at the other end.' He never
slept again except where the puHing and hauling would be
done by friends."
U. H. Farr: "The four corps marched about fifteen
miles apart, and that afforded an opportunity to reach a
wide extent of the country for forage. AH the horses
found by the foragers were confiscated, and every Bummer
was soon well mounted. All horses not so needed were
turned over to the quartermaster's department for the use of
artillery, or wagon-trains, and the cavalry; and at Savan
nah the horses and equipments of the foragers were turned
over to the Quartermaster. As a general thing no horses
or cattle could be found on the plantations. The owners
had carried them away on our approach, to the thickly
wooded hills or to the islands in the swamps. In these
supposed inaccessible places great quantities of household
plunder, provisions, poultry, slaves, and white women and
chHdren would be gathered, but the Bummer, directed by
the loyal negro, would always find them. Provisions in
abundance, such as hams, and valuables of every kind, both

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 217
on the farms and in the towns, were buried, and every
device, such as scattering leaves loosely above, or building
a fire over the spot, adopted to throw the Bummers off
the scent ; but the prodding ramrod of the forager would
soon divulge the secret.
"Often while the column was moving along monoton
ously, someone would begin whistling a familiar tune, and
instantly it would be taken up in front and rear by hun
dreds of men, all keeping step as steadily as if on parade
behind the finest of bands. Sometimes after an all-night
and all-day march, late in the evening this strange music
would fiH the air, when, quick as a flash, the drooping men
would join in the melody, close up the column and march
as buoyantly as if they had just risen from a night of rest,
and the enjoyment of a feast. As dusk approached, the
sight of men in camp would cheer the marchers up, but
the profanity was blasting, as mile after mile was added to
the day's journey, to be ended only when a point in front
was reached where the pontoniers needed protection in
their bridge-building work.
"In preparing to destroy a railroad, a brigade or division
would march by the side of the track, form in line, then
stack arms. As soon as the spikes at each end of the line
were drawn, the men would lay hold of the ends of the
ties on one side of the road, and, aH Hfting at once, the
whole affair would be turned over, the rails going under.
Then men prepared with sledges would knock the raHs
off, pHe the ties in square heaps four to six feet high, put
the rails on top and set fire to the mass. As soon as the
rails were red hot they would twist them like a string, or
bend them around a tree or stump, so as to render them
useless, except as old iron to be sent to a rolHng mill for

2l8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
restoration to the original shape. Much of the Chatta
nooga road was so treated, and aH of the road from Atlanta
to Savannah.
"While at MiHedgeviHe, the State Capital, some of the
boys organized a mock legislature, chose a speaker, dis
cussed and adopted patriotic resolutions. At first we were
amazed at the sight of the immense knives we found there,
thousands of them, but finally came to the conclusion that
they were made by the Confederates to fight with in 'the
last ditch.'
At Springfield, twenty-five miles from Savannah, our
brigade was hurried forward to engage some rebel cav
alry, said to be in some force, but as it had departed when
we arrived, we encamped on the edge of the town. Many
of the citizens were at home, and talked with the boys, say
ing that the war was not nearly at an end, and were loud in
their prophecies as to the future. 'You wiH find you can
not take Savannah; it is too weH fortified.' Some of our
boys were back at Springfield about two weeks later with
wagons gathering up forage for the mules and horses of
the army, and found these boasting citizens utterly dum-
founded. They now felt sure Sherman's army could whip
anything. "As we approached Savannah the troops were thrown
into line, the Twentieth Corps being on the left, and ex
tending to the river above the city. Here we were greeted
by the heavy guns of the enemy throwing sheH and solid
shot. At the part of the Hne occupied by us there was a
swamp several feet deep, and our skirmishers occupied one
side and the rebel skirmishers the other. Our main line
of works was some two or three hundred yards from the
swamp. A graded road had furnished passage across the

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 219
swamp, but the several bridges in the dike had been burned,
and at the farther end of the embankment the road was
defended with heavy ordnance, so that to think of an
assault by the dike would have been madness. Sappers and
miners, assisted by details from each command, occupied
the nights in building a bridge across the swamp, prob
ably to distract the attention of the besieged from General
Sherman's real design.
"Much rice still stood in the shock, and the negroes
were employed to thresh and hull it. We were kept well
suppHed with this, and if we had had salt to season it there
would have been no complaint. As soon as Fort Mc-
AlHster was taken, tons of mail were delivered, and soon
heavily laden wagons were winding their way carrying
provisions to the troops, and long lines of horses and mules
were seen pulling heavy guns to different positions around
the city. We now learned for the first time of the election
of Lincoln."
Other diaries and letters furnish additional information
of the Georgia invasion. J. M. WHls: "On the twenty-
second of November we camped near MiHedgeviHe. We
found a few thousand butcher knives with blades two feet
long. A great many of the boys started on the next day's
march with these cheese-knives, as they called them, hung
to their sides like officers' swords, but in a few days cast
them aside. The legislature was in session in the State
House and no one was eligible to be a representative un
less he was a member of Sherman's army. On the twenty-
fourth we marched toward Sandersville, twenty-six mHes
away, and on account of the swamps encountered, it took
us three days. We camped at SandersvHIe over night and
left on the twenty-seventh, marching toward LouisviHe,

220 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
where we rested. On the third of December we found
the roads strewn with fallen timber. It did not take us
half as long to move the trees out of the road as it took the
rebels to cut them down. On the sixth we camped at
Effingham, on the eighth marched to Springfield and on
the tenth came up to the outer works of Hardee's army
at Savannah. In a few days Company C was detailed to
go with the Seventy-ninth Ohio fifteen miles south, to
King's Bridge, the head of navigation on the Ogeechee
River, to act as guards, and to help unload suppHes for
the army, the first we had drawn since leaving Atlanta."
J. C. Bennett: "November nineteenth we stopped over
for one day to wash ourselves and our clothes. As we had
but one suit, and the weather was warm, we buttoned up
our coats whHe we washed and dried our other garments,"
Wm. Sharpe: "As we entered the outskirts of the Cap
ital of Georgia, we saw in front of a negro shanty a white
shirt on a pole floating in the breeze and a lot of negro wo
men standing around. One of the boys caHed out: 'Say,
Dinah, what have you that thing up there for?' 'Why-
why,' said she, 'that's to let you'uns know that we'uns have
surrendered!' A shout went up: 'That's a good joke on
Sherman's army.' A negro shanty surrendering, with an
old white shirt as a signal, made us feel jolly."
This incident from the same journal shows how easy it
was for officers to fall out over a trifling infringement of
each other's rights, and the amusement afforded the men
by a dispute between those in command: "Not many
hours after leaving MHledgeviHe we were ordered to stack
arms on the same camp-ground where Captain Winegar's
Battery I, First New York ArtiHery, lay. Presently the
Captain came riding up with drawn sword to Colonel Mer-

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 221
rill of our regiment and commanded him to move his men
out of his camp. The Colonel replied that he was ordered
to stack arms right here, and right here he would stay
until told to move by the commanding officer. Captain
Winegar became very angry and said: 'I wiH order Gen
eral Slocum to move you out of here.' Colonel Merrill
turned around to him with a big smile on his face and said:
'Captain Winegar, it does look as if you would try to order
General Slocum around.' We boys were mightily tickled,
whHe the Captain's own men began to catch on, and joined
in a good hearty laugh at their commander. The enraged
officer disappeared for a while, then returned and quietly
moved the battery."
Sharpe thus tells how a soldier suppHes himself with
honey: "He runs his bayonet into the top of the beehive,
brings his gun to a right shoulder shift, and takes up the
double-quick for his command, leaving the bees to fly out
behind as he runs." Woe to the man, horse, or mule that
he happens to pass. He might have told of a lad wrap
ping a hive in a blanket, and the fun he had when the curi
ous boys unfolded the supposed music box ; or of their fun
later when the joker's dreams were disturbed by a few bees
that had stuck to the blanket.
The members of our regiment had a great affection for
the men of the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois, and the
feeHng was reciprocated, but this did not prevent the play
ing of jokes at each other's expense. The Seventieth boys
felt quite sure they knew who had slandered them, and
made General Ward assert in his forceful way, "I swah to
God, if I could camp over night with the Seventieth in the
edge of Richmond, there would be nothing for Grant to
take in the morning."

222 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
The foHowing stories were told at a reunion after the
war, as iHustrating this disposition. One night the ropes
of the sutler's tent of the One Hundred and Fifth IHinois
were cut, and from the ruins cans of fruit, cigars and some
thing stronger than his tobacco disappeared. It was re
ported at headquarters, under loud protests from the
accused, however, that the mischief was done by men of
the Seventieth. The protesting innocents declared that
they would get even with their slanderous friends.
"The patient search and vigil long
Of him who treasures up a wrong"
had its reward on the March to the Sea. The Seventieth
foraging party, on one occasion, had separated in squads
of four. The men of one squad entered an outbuilding
attached to a large dweHing, and finding a hogshead fiHed
with molasses, proceeded to stand it on end, knock in the
head, and stock their canteens. Just as they had finished,
a buxom housemaid, black as night, rushed in at the com
mand of her mistress, crying^, "G'way fum heah ! Dese our
'lasses !" at the same time striking one of the foragers on
the head with an oak paddle, so that he staggered against
the side of the shed. Recovering himself, he called out,
"Let's baptize her, boys," and the four, seizing, immersed
her in the syrup, then let her run. As they emerged from
the cabin, the foragers of the One Hundred and Fifth ap
peared with a large ox wagon they had pressed into the ser
vice, and shouted, "What's in there, boys?" "Sorghum!"
"Any left?" "Yes, a whole barrel!" In a twinkling the
hogshead was on the wagon. That night there was much
sweetness in the mouths of the One Hundred and Fifth
boys, but much bitterness of feeHng with loss of appetite

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 223
the following day when told of the cruel joke. Possibly
history repeats itself in this incident, for a simHar experi
ence is told of another regiment.
The Georgia forager, a unique character such as the
world has never seen before, coined for himself the name
of Sherman's Bummer. Just at sundown there would join
the march or enter the camp a motley collection of wag
ons, carts, chaises, buggies, sulkies, coaches, anything that
had wheels, drawn by anything that could pull. At the
head of the procession would be an ancient family carriage,
drawn by a goat, a cow with bell, and a jackass. Tied be
hind would be a sheep and a calf, while the vehicle would
be loaded down with pumpkins, chickens, cabbages,
guinea fowls, carrots, turkeys, onions, squashes, a shoat,
sorghum, a looking-glass, an Italian harp, sweetmeats, a
peacock, a rocking chair, a gourd, a bass viol, sweet po
tatoes, a cradle, dried peaches, honey, a baby carriage,
peach brandy and every other imaginable thing under the
sun a lot of fool soldiers could take in their heads to bring
away. Now leading the goat, now mauling the cow when
ever she bawled, would be a gigantic woman, wearing a
bonnet decked with ostrich feathers, a silk dress coming
down to her knees, a pearl necklace encircling her throat,
from which poured forth such blood-curdling oaths when
ever the jackass stopped to bray, as would have made Satan
shake his sides in rapturous joy. On top of this load
would be a man with an antique two-story stovepipe silk
hat, a revolutionary swallow-tailed, shad-belly coat, black
velvet knee-breeches, legs hideously bare, who pressed to
his lips a six-foot stage horn and blew as if his name was
Gabriel and the judgment day just at hand.
December fifteenth. An officer writes: "A month ago

224 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
to-day we pushed out from Atlanta into the enemy's coun
try, entirely ignorant of our destination. Our nightlong
journey was gloomily enHvened by the flames of burning
houses, and the distant explosions beneath the ruined city
in our rear. Nothing I have ever seen, but this terrible
night, is worthy of being compared to that
" 'Day of Wrath, eventful day.
When heaven and earth shall pass away.'
" 'Dies irae! Dies irae!' filled the air, and fell upon the
hearts of the inhabitants of doomed Georgia. As we had
only three days' rations, our subsistence had to be taken
entirely from the country; and as the region through which
we passed was a wealthy one, we obtained meal, flour,
pork, beef, chickens, turkeys, honey, preserved fruits, sweet
potatoes, rice, and, indeed, everything you can think of.
"I think I have eaten more fowls and honey on this trip
than in all my life before, and sweet potatoes — well, I've
almost had enough.
"The boys have become quite fastidious in regard to
the size of the turkey, claiming that a ten-pound yearfing
just meets a man's wants, whHe a fifteen-pounder may be
tough; and anyhow is ill-proportioned, being a little too
much for one man and not quite enough for two.
"As we passed along the road near Madison, the men
found an outhouse containing several casks of molasses.
Hungry stragglers swarmed around like bees, swearing and
pushing and overturning the barrels. A beautiful black-
eyed boy of four years sat on the gate-post, caHing out,
'Come out of there, you old mean Yanks, you! Oh, goody!
goody! you can't get the chickens, for they're under the
house!'

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 225
"WhHe we were entering MHledgevHle an old black wo
man cried, 'God bless you! You've come at last. We've
been waitin' for you-all more'n four years!'
"The usual invitation of our boys, 'Come on, Sambo!
Come on, Dinah!' was responded to in one case by an ebony
female rushing into the ranks with a 'Yes, I'se gwine, but
some of you'uns must marry me.'
"A fat old feHow stood by his lady on a high fence. As
his eye caught me, he cried out, 'Oh, dar's de Capting!'
winding up with a locomotive yeH, and a backward tumble.
It's to be hoped he didn't break his neck.
"A woman greeted us with, 'Lawsee, Massas ! I can't larf
nuff; I'se so glad to see you!'
"It was very touching to see the vast numbers of colored
women following after us with babies in their arms, and
little ones like our Anna clinging to their tattered skirts.
One poor creature, while nobody was looking, hid two
boys, five years old, in a wagon, intending, I suppose, that
they should see the land of freedom if she couldn't. Babies
tumbled from the backs of mules, to which they had been
told to cling, and were drowned in the swamps, whHe moth
ers stood by the roadside, crying for their lost children, and
doubting whether to continue longer with the advancing
army. "The houses of the wealthy along the Hne of march
were pillaged, their clothes and beds torn to pieces, their
barns and gins given to the flames.
"An old planter was walking back and forth, wringing
his hands, and exclaiming over and over, 'Oh, I'm a ruined
man! I'm a ruined man!' when one of the soldiers, weary
of his noise, consoled him with, 'Who in  said you
wasn't?'

226 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
"It was melancholy to watch the books disappear from
the shelves of the State library, recaHing the vandalism
of the Arabs in Egypt. Ghost of Hannah More! Think
of my stealing 'Coelebs in Search of a Wife!'*
"In many of the houses the ladies sat amid the ruins of
their furniture and the tattered contents of their drawers
and trunks, smiling as if they took all things joyfully. Yet
now and then an old lady would have to be reproved by her
calmer daughter, 'Please, mamma, don't rar' so !'
"A Confederate, General Harrison, was accosted by one
of the men: 'Well, old man, they're handling you rather
roughly!' 'Yes,' was the reply; 'they have done about all
they can.' 'No,' said the other, angrily, 'we'll burn your
house for you and make a desert of your plantation !' The
discovery of blood-hounds, which always exasperates the
men, and the fact that his son had charge of a prison pen,
occasioned special vindictiveness,
"Our men showed more sympathy for an unfortunate
dog that appeared underneath a burning house in Spring
field, sending forth most dismal howls. He succeeded by
the help of the flames in breaking the strap which bound
him, but only to find himself caged by blazing palings that
fringed the basement of the buHding. The boys stood in
ranks as the column halted for a moment, breathlessly
watching the efforts of the poor fellow, whom they could
not aid, and burst into welcoming cheers as he seized the
red bars with his teeth and tore his way toward them.
"One of the boys found five thousand doHars in Con
federate money concealed in a well, besides gold, silver
and clothing of the finest quality. I have no doubt that

*The book has since been returned.

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 227
fifty thousand doHars' worth of silk dresses were found
buried, and exhumed and torn to pieces by the men. Sil
verware, hid away in the ground, fell into their hands
through information derived from the negroes.
"An officer may instruct, command and threaten the
men, but when foraging they think of the tens of thous
ands of their imprisoned comrades, slowly perishing with
hunger, in the midst of wealth untold, barns bursting with
grain, and food to feed a dozen armies, and they sweep with
the besom of destruction. The war is with men and with
property, but women are always addressed with respect
and chHdren treated with tenderness. I gave orders to
our foragers, and doubtless other regimental commanders
did the same, to shoot down anything in the form of a man
engaged in unsoldier-like deeds.
"On a plantation about seven miles from Savannah is a
magnificent forest of live oaks, festooned with Spanish
moss. Some of the trees are ten feet in diameter, and the
distance across from tip to tip of the branches is nearly
two hundred feet, far surpassing in grandeur any produc
tion of the forest I have ever seen. The English oaks are
but dwarfs, and that elm at home, near Virginia avenue,
dwindles in my memory until it assumes a size not a third
as large as these glorious creations, each one in itself a
forest and a temple.
"Before Savannah, Monday, December nineteenth. AH
the boys seem to be in excellent health. It could scarcely
be otherwise, as the march has been easy, the food excel
lent, and the weather defightful. The days are as sunny
and the air as mild as if it were summer instead of winter.
The favorite hymn with the men is, 'December's as pleasant
as June.' "

228 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
One has only to read the following documents from
Generals Beauregard and Wheeler to be satisfied as to who
it was that insulted women, maltreated chHdren, and com
mitted the crimes falsely charged to the Union foragers.
The times were propitious for the "poor white" to show
the arrogant planter that "one man is as good as another,"
and for the revengeful who had cherished a grudge to
get even with his neighbor. Wheeler, doubtless, and pos
sibly Wade Hampton, did what they could to restrain their
troopers, but hosts of the gallant Confederates had faHen,
while all the cowardly cut-throats had survived.
In the Field, Dec. lo, 1864.
Soldiers! While you have been engaged gallantly fighting
the enemy a band of thieves and stragglers have spread over
the country robbing and insulting the wives and children of
your brother soldiers who are opposing the invaders upon
other fields. These soldiers expect protection from you, and I
appeal to every officer and soldier of this command to assist
in arresting and bringing to justice these depredators who
claim to belong to the command, and by their conduct are
bringing disgrace upon you and distress upon citizens, the
families of comrades in arms.
JOSEPH WHEELER, Major-General.
Charleston, Dec. 23, 1864.
Gen. S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General: Unless
Wheeler's command of twelve so-called brigades can be
properly organized into divisions, under good commanders, a
large portion of it had better be dismounted forthwith; its
conduct in front of the enemy, and its depredations on private
property, render it worse than useless.
G. T. BEAUREGARD, General.

THE MARCH TO THE SEA 229
The destruction of railways, the flames consuming mills
and gins, property created by and wrung from the black-
man, gave hourly evidence of the awful ruin wrought by
a war that would never have existed had it not been for
the wrong of slavery. Many drawn battles had been fought
in which thousands died seemingly in vain, but now the
shackles were broken without a blow, and a vast host of
freedmen foHowed the army to the sea. WendeH Phillips
had declared, "I believe American slavery will last a thous
and years." Before twelve had elapsed, after this decla
ration, countless throngs were pressing on the men in blue,
shouting in their new-found liberty, "The year of jubilee
has come." Gladstone spoke better than he knew, when
he said: "Jefferson Davis has created a nation," for that
unhappy man's action had resulted in four millions of peo
ple, more than originally formed the American Common
wealth, emerging from slavery to a share in the govem
ment of a genuine republic, now for the first time in its
history without a slave.
J. L. Ketcham: "I just received the compliment of
being a great prophet. When in front of Savannah heavy
firing was heard in the distance. We had grown used to
such little matters, but some negroes who had just come
into camp were greatly alarmed. The baHs of their eyes
roHed uncomfortably. They appointed a committee to
wait on me and ask me what I thought of the future, I
repHed, 'Oh, we wiH wake up some fine morning and find
the enemy has fled.' The frightened creatures would not
accept this simple prophetic statement. The next morn
ing, however, the enemy was gone. The negroes were
delighted and gathered around their camp-fire to discuss
the situation. I overheard one of them refer in high com-

230 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
pHmentary terms to my prophetic greatness, adding, 'Now,
how do you 'spose he knowed s'much?' " Ketcham beat
Wendell Phillips at prophesying.
On the night of the twentieth of December Hardee's
army deserted Savannah, and early the foHowing morn
ing Sherman's battalions entered the city. The great com
mander modestly underestimated his captures, when on
the twenty-second he sent this dispatch to the President:
"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of
Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and
plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand
bales of cotton."

CHAPTER XIII.
IN SAVANNAH
An officer writes: "All the way from Atlanta to the
ocean without a fight. Some portions of our army have
had skirmishing, but our regiment has not lost a man.
"Before daylight on the twenty-first we discovered that
the Confederates had deserted their lines, so we immedi
ately pushed into the city, finding over three hundred pieces
of artHlery, besides thousands of bales of the king of the
South and vast quantities of rice and corn.
"It was a glorious sight, the entering of our steamers
into the harbor day before yesterday.
"The city is much more beautiful than either Atlanta
or NashviHe. Almost every other square is a park, orna
mented in many instances with beautiful monuments and
sparkling fountains. I had a delightful ride a day or two
ago along the river to Fort Jackson, some four mHes below
the city. Our horses went like the wind along the dikes,
which separate rice fields; under brave old oaks snowed
over with Spanish moss; through thicketed ravines, more
beautiful than Scotland's lovely Hawthornden; over the
drawbridge, across the moat, beneath the arch, and into
the fortress so lately deserted by the foe.
"One of the streets of the city is very wide, adorned with
four rows of shade trees and bordered with magnificent
residences, caHing to mind the loveHness and grandeur of
Unter-den-Linden." U. H. Farr: "The Twentieth Corps, after the city was
taken, went into camp in the suburbs on the upper side
231

232 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
within the defences. Great quantities of rice were stored in
the warehouses, in sacks, barrels, hogsheads, and in bulk,
and the inhabitants, principally Irish women and children,
and a few crippled men, came pouring in to load them
selves. I saw some fights between the women, and the
air became sulphurous from the curses. Fists were used
with vigor, and hair-puHing and kicks indulged in, but
tongues were the principal weapons. Starving women,
colored and white, thronged the river bank rolling barrels
and even huge hogsheads of rice. Our soldiers stood in
groups taking in the scene. When a fight occurred among
the Amazons, they would cheer and encourage the weaker
ones, and despite the roughness of the scene would get
some enjoyment out of it.
"No guard was needed in this conquered city to protect
the citizens or to keep the houses from being invaded.
Soldiers could be seen wandering in groups all over the
city, commenting on the structure of the houses, the pe
culiarities of the shaded streets, and the great number of
parks. Camp life soon grew monotonous, and many of
the men drifted into gambling as a pastime, the excitement
of the game taking the place of the excitement of the
skirmish line. One walking on the railroad, down the
southern sunnyside embankment, could see every kind of
game going on with cards and dice, chuck-a-luck and poker
having the preference; and that money was rapidly falling
into the hands of the skilful and unscrupulous.
"We drew some clothing, mostly shoes, as the men were
barefooted, though many were almost naked, as no regu
lar issue of clothing had been made since spring. A small
amount of other wear beside shoes was drawn, but the men
did not allow themselves to indulge in needful blankets.

IN SAVANNAH 233
or a change of clothing even, no matter how cold the win
ter nights might be, as they felt that the halt was of short
duration, and such articles could not be carried on the
march." An officer writes: "Sunday Captain Culver and I at
tended service at the Methodist church, and as it was com
munion Sabbath and the invitation did not seem to exclude
us, we went forward with the members, and kneeling round
the altar partook of the sacrament. The members appeared
fearfully broken down, as if the heavens were clothed in
sackcloth and their hearts were crushed beneath the black
ened embers of their blasted homes. I think they were
glad to have us there, and yet, clad as they were in mourn
ing and overwhelmed by the thought that all they valued
in Hfe was lost, they seemed to personify woe. Some may
rejoice in the desolation of this people, but I feel as the
Israelites did over the extermination of Benjamin.
"On our return we went into an empty house, doors all
open, in search of something to read. Everything the
owners did not wish to take in their flight was tumbled on
the floors. After finding a little book that suited me, I
remarked to a lone African who had gladly welcomed us:
'My man, it's rather hard to be stealing things this way,
isn't it?' 'La, Massa, dat's not stealin'. Dey's yours. If
dey hadn't font you, dey wouldn't loss nuffin'.'
"The negroes furnish a comic side to the melancholy
pictures seen everywhere, though there is tragedy enough
in their comedy. Yesterday, while we were singing, a
gray-headed darkey with saw and buck on his shoulders,
as he passed by, struck up a dance in spite of age and
encumbrances, inspired by the music or the thought of
broken chains.

234 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
" 'God bress you! God bress you!' is the language of
every crooked-legged, wrinkled-faced, white-haired, black
ragamuffin as he puHs off his hat and paws the ground
with his right foot; 'I'se been prayin' for you dese many
years, and I knowed you's gwine to come, and now you's
done come, thank the good Lord.'
"Everywhere you hear old women muttering, 'O, how
I love em!' 'But dey is purty!' 'Dey isn't yaller, scrawny
little feHers like dem rebels.' 'God bress you, dear.' 'He
opened de door. He take de yoke off our necks. He turn
us loose!' 'O, Lord! Massa, my young missus tole me de
Yankees had horns on der head, and dey would bore holes
tru our shoulders for de ropes, and hitch us in wagons,
and all dose what couldn't work, dey'd send off to Cuby.'
"WhHe we were singing 'John Brown' and the 'Year of
JubHo' this morning, a great crowd of tattered women
gathered from the streets, waving their hands, shouting,
throwing their arms round each other, kneeling and pray
ing, 'God bress you and take you, Massas, and all dat you
love to heaven, whar you will shine like stars in glory!
We owe it all to you! Bress God!'
"It is depressing to see their joy, when one thinks of
the impossibHity of their attaining their ideal of freedom.
Never having known what it is to act for themselves, they
are helpless as little chHdren when thrown on their own
resources. We laugh now at their wild antics, and mar-
veHous expectations, but cannot shut out the thought that
the comedy may soon darken into a tragedy."
U. H. Farr: "On the morning of the thirty-first of
December, 1864, the Third Division crossed the pontoon
bridge to an island in the Savannah River, and the pon
toon corps attempted to throw boats over the other branch

IN SAVANNAH 235
of the stream; but the rebel troops had stationed them
selves on the opposite side of the river, behind a high em
bankment that served to keep the tide-water from the low
rice fields. Our corps batteries were brought to bear on
these riflemen, and a vigorous shelling was kept up all
day, without much apparent effect, however. As night
drew on, a cold wind blew at a furious rate, making it
impossible to raise a tent, and as all the fuel on the island
was water-soaked, building a fire that emitted any warmth
was out of the question. Wretchedness was universal."
An officer writes: "I heard an irrepressible youth sing
ing, as he watched the old year out and the new year in:
" 'In eighteen hundred and sixty-five,
We'll all go home, if we're alive.'
'Much virtue in If,' I thought, for it looks now with Jack
Frost and Jupiter Pluvius after us, and Jeff Davis in front,
as if we stood a sorry chance of getting home."
U. H. Farr: "Early on the first of January, 1865, Com
panies A, B, C and D recrossed the bridge and marched
to a point where a small river steamer, the General Hardee,
lay. Battery C,. First Ohio, was put on the boat and two
barges were fastened to either side of the steamer. The
boat steamed down the river below the island to a point
near Fort Jackson, then headed up the stream, and across
to South Carolina. , As the steamer approached the shore
the artillerymen stood to their guns, and the four com
panies were ordered to load and fix bayonets. At this mo
ment the batteries on the island literally filled the air with
sheHs, raking the top of the embankment in our front,
while the infantry filed rapidly into the barges, seized the
poles and pushed themselves to the shore. The men sprang

236 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
out and rushed to the top of the bank, expecting each sec
ond a crash of musketry from the enemy supposed to be
behind it. Hundreds of yards away hundreds of men in
gray were seen going pell-mell, trying to escape the shells
flying from the island. The sight of the scampering men,
some of whom were mounted and were beating their horses
furiously, called forth shouts of laughter, and concluded
with a cheer of triumph, which was taken up by the six
companies of the Seventieth still on the island.
"The steamer now went back for the balance of the regi
ment, and when all had arrived, we took up our march for
the timber by the same route the rebel cavalry had gone.
As this was some five miles from the river, it was night
before we reached our destination. We could see a bright
fire blazing in advance, and when the head of the column
reached it, it was discovered to be a burning bridge. The
fire was quickly extinguished, and after repairing, wagons
and the artillery were enabled to cross. We advanced until
we came to the dwelling on the plantation of General
Hardee, and there threw out pickets and encamped."
An officer writes home from this place: "It is startfing
to meet a regiment that has had active service for two or
three years, and see how amazingly diseases, detachments,
discharges and death have caused it to dwindle. A Httle
incident at the Savannah River crossing illustrates this
and may amuse you : Three of us, Acting Adjutant Charles
Cox, my man Jerry and myself, were going from our camp
on Hardee's plantation to Savannah with the remains of
the regimental banners, which were to be sent home. Jerry,
mounted on a mule, poked along behind carrying the flags,
which, notwithstanding all our care, are reduced to a few
tattered stripes, a tassel or two, and shell-shattered staves.

IN SAVANNAH 237
Flags couldn't look more forlorn, and our clothes were
faded and ragged. As we suddenly descended the bank,
there about seven feet high, we encountered a sentinel keep
ing sohtary guard at the head of the pontoon bridge, who
asked: 'What regiment, boys?' Charley answered, 'Seven
tieth Indiana.' The man took a step up the bank to see
the others coming, seemed stunned, dropped the butt of
his gun to the ground and exclaimed, 'My God! aH dead
but two men and a nigger!' " Executive Mansion,
Washington, Dec. 26, 1864.
My Dear General Sherman: Many, many thanks for your
Christmas gift, the capture of Savannah. When you were about
leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not
fearful, but feeHng that you were the better judge, and remem
bering that "nothing risked, nothing gained," I did not inter
fere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all
yours, for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce.
And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, as it
should be taken, it is indeed a great success. Not only does
it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but
in showing to the world that your army could be divided, put
ting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet
leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the
whole — Hood's army — it brings those who sat in darkness to
see a great light. But what next? I suppose it wiH be safer
if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide. Please make
my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, officers
and men. Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.

238 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
General Orders, No, 3,
War Department, Adjutant General's Office.
Washington, Jan. 14, 1865.
The following resolution of the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives is published to the army :
Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That
the thanks of the people and of the Congress of the United
States are due, and are hereby tendered to Maj.-Gen. William
T. Sherman, and through him to the officers and men under
his command, for their gallantry and good conduct in their
late compaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and the tri
umphal march thence through Georgia to Savannah, terminat
ing in the capture and occupation of that city; and that the
President cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed
and forwarded to Maj.-Gen. Sherman.
By order of the Secretary of War.
W. A. NICHOLS,
Assistant Adjutant-General,
Headquarters Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
Savannah, Ga., Dec. 24, 1864.
Sir — I have the honor to report that on the ist day of
November the aggregate present of the Seventieth Indiana
Regiment was 413, which was increased to 532 on the 5th by
an addition caused by a consolidation with the Twenty-
seventh Indiana. On the 14th we left the Chattahoochee
River, reaching Atlanta the same day. On the 15th, the time
of moving from Atlanta, there were nine animals in my pos
session, for which, in the fifteen days previous, there had been
drawn only three days' rations, as the twelve days' rations
were foraged from the neighboring regions. Thirteen animals
were added to the above number, making in all twenty-two,
for which the government has furnished no rations, but forage
was collected from the country to supply their wants.
The number of rations issued to the men of the command
I have no means of ascertaining. Since the organization of

IN SAVANNAH 239
the regiment the supply of food has never been .so abundant
as during the recent campaign.
The health of the command has been excellent, the average
number unfit for duty being less than one in one hundred.
The daHy report of the regiment has been no casualties.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. MERRILL,
Lieut. Col., Commanding Seventieth Ind. Vols,
Lieut, A. H, Trego,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General,

CHAPTER XIV.
"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS"
These oft-used words, greeted with such delight by the
lazy coHege student, give wonderful comfort also to one
whose only claim to be Hke Xenophon is that he, too, tells
of a journey through an enemy's country. If the gifted
disciple of Socrates was driven to repeating, "Then we
marched so many mHes" again and again, who can criti
cise if in this unpretending narrative of a tramp through
the hostile States of the Carolinas and Virginia there are
tiresome repetitions.
When the ten thousand Greeks in their famous march
to the sea, at sight of the Euxine threw themselves into
each other's arms, weeping and shouting for joy, they for
got for the ecstatic moment that before reaching home
fearful hardships were yet to be borne. So, too, our boys,
as they looked out toward the ocean, and saw the beau
tiful flag floating over the approaching vessels, were
thrilled through and through, forgetting everything,
hardly knowing whether the vision accompanying the view
was of heaven or home. Soon the vision vanished, and
the certainty that their journeyings were not yet half done,
and that hardships indescribable were to be endured, caHed
for all the fortitude and resolution they had in reserve.
U. H. Farr : "We remained at Hardee's farm until Jan
uary seventeenth, and then moved to Hardeesville, where
we stayed till the twenty-ninth. The country around the
town is low and flat, and the numerous swamps made it
anything but a desirable location. It rained much of the
240

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 241
time, and the camps were flooded with water half ankle
deep, and as the ground was spongy, the mud was as deep
as the water. Brush was cut from the pine trees, and piled
in the tents to keep the men from lying in the water.
"On the twenty-ninth we marched to RobertsviHe, twen
ty-five miles in two days, passing through the same low
country covered with mud and water. Much of the road
had to be corduroyed with fence rails if these could be
found within a quarter of a mile of the road, or with poles
cut from the woods. We lay in RobertsvHle two. days;
leaving on February second and marching on higher
ground twelve miles, we reached Lawtonville the same day.
Though the land as a general thing lay higher than that
near Savannah, yet on either side of the water courses were
swamps from a few hundred yards to a mile or more in
width, which had always to be corduroyed for the passage
of wagons and artillery.
"Some half-mHe to the west of LawtonviHe was a smaH
creek, and as the head of the column approached the
swamp it was fired on by the enemy from the east side of
a field on the western edge of the swamp. A skirmish line
was thrown out, but met with such a hot fire that the ad
vance was stopped, and batteries were brought up to a
rise in the ground of the field, some three or four hundred
yards away from the enemy, and trained on the pHes of
raHs along the edge of the swamp. While the division
was forming in line the artillery did good work, as every
shell thrown was seen to scatter the rails that had been
pHed, but the enemy somehow held to his position, and
kept up a hot fire. When all was ready for a move forward,
the skirmish line was strengthened. Companies A, B, C,
and D, being added from the Seventieth, when the whole

242 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
skirmish Hne, a mHe or more long, advanced with a yell.
Such a galling fire was poured into it that after running
over two-thirds of the ground to be passed, the men
dropped flat to get a good breath, preparatory to a struggle
over the rail piles. A determined resistance was expected,
but when the command 'Forward!' came every man was
up instantly and with a yeH the rush was made. No enemy
was found, however, for while we were preparing for the
last grand rush, he had quietly but quickly withdrawn into
the tangled underbrush of the swamp. The column, pre
ceded by the skirmish Hne, pushed on and camped for the
night at LawtonviHe.
"Our command now moved rapidly toward the interior
and struck the Augusta and Charleston railroad at Graham's
Turnout, and in three days tore up some seventy miles of
that road, burning the ties and bridges and destroying the
rails. We encamped on the opposite side of the river from
Columbia, and saw its destruction by fire. Early the follow
ing morning we marched eight miles up the river and
crossed on a pontoon bridge. We crossed the Wateree at
Rocky Mountain and Winsboro was burned; indeed, as we
passed through this part of the State we could see from an
eminence by the columns of smoke that like a cloud cov
ered the entire front of the armies, how far the foragers
had advanced. No house of any pretension was left, no
outbuildings, no fences, for the solemn resolve of every
man was that South Carolina, the prime conspirator in the
rebelHon, should be made to suffer for the sorrow she had
brought on the country.
"Nothing escaped the search of the foragers, for, guided
by the negroes, everything hidden was revealed. Cattle,
horses, eatables, everything that could be used was taken.

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 243
and the slaves who proposed to follow the army were sup
plied with their master's clothing. Vast quantities of corn
were found and carried to mills in sacks, the foragers turn
ing mHlers, and coming into camp loaded down with the
material for making corn-bread. The foragers saHied out
of camp each morning before day, hurrying to the front,
or out on either flank of the line of march, in hopes of being
first to find some kind of forage to bring in to their hungry
comrades. They seldom failed to find something, even
though they had to fight the small squads of rebels for
it, but often it was very little, and the men had to fast
until the foragers were more successful. Then after a fail
ure or two, they would come in loaded with hams, chick
ens, geese, turkeys, pigs, lambs, rice, potatoes, and honey,
and the men would revel in plenty. All through the center
and eastern part of the State they found sugar-houses with
long lines of barrels of sugar standing around the sides
of the building so as to let the syrup drain off, to be
carried by troughs into a box and barreled as it accumu
lated." It is impossible in the limits of a small volume to men
tion individuals except as they stand for classes, or to
relate incidents except as they illustrate in a general way
army life.
W. T. Done, when eighteen years old, in the spring of
1864, enHsted and was assigned at IndianapoHs as a recruit
to Company D, of our regiment, on his choice, because
some of his old schoolmates were in that company. After
he had been assigned and had donned his uniform, boy
like, he concluded, as he was not sent right off to the
front, to go back to his home in the country and show

244 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
himself to his mother. She was a widow and her only other
son had died in the army.
Done could get no furlough, so he took French leave,
having no thought of desertion, but petty officials, seeing
the chance for making the Government fee, twenty-five
dollars, by catching a deserter, arrested, manacled and for
warded him to his company. It was a long, hard journey
for Done, cooped up nine-tenths of the time in jails, with
deserters, bounty-jumpers, and criminals of every descrip
tion. In five months he reached Atlanta, after its faH, whHe
the troops were lying in camps around the city.
Word came that a prisoner had arrived who belonged to
Company D, and was at a military prison in town. No one
recognized his name, which was misspelled on the papers
presented, and no one had heard that a recruit was coming.
When an officer brought him to camp not a man knew him,
for he was filthy, his clothing in rags, his hair long and
uncombed, and he was pale and emaciated from long con
finement in vHe dungeons. To everybody's surprise he
caHed some of his old schoolmates by name, and added to
their amazement by telling them who he was. One humor
ous old acquaintance exclaimed as he stepped forward and
took him by the hand, "WeH, now, if you ain't a bird!" and
so he became known in the company as Bird.
He proved to be a good soldier, was a regular dare-devH,
and made his mark on the CaroHna campaign as a first-
class forager. He picked up a long-necked, long-bodied,
long-legged, bony horse that was called Shellbark. Shell-
bark was a traveler. When he got under way he was hard
to stop. His points were observed and freely discussed
by the boys, and the conclusion was that he had been
trained for racing.

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 245
Some days after the army passed Columbia we entered
a fertile portion of the State, but Wade Hampton was in
front, and as his host was being constantly reinforced from
other sections of the South, foraging was frequently en
livened by fighting. Early one morning some fifteen or
twenty of our foragers had pushed far out in front of the
army, but had not met with success in their search. As was
the custom two of the number rode a hundred yards in
advance of the squad as lookouts. They were approach
ing a farm-house that stood a little off the main road, but
was reached by a lane leading from the highway to the
dwelling. As they came near this lane, a force of mounted
men was seen in the yard, outnumbering two or three to
one the squad of foragers. They were dressed in blue uni
forms, and our foragers, supposing they were Union men,
decided to pass on. After the advance guard was beyond
the mouth of the lane, and before the main party reached
it, the troop up at the farm-house all at once opened fire
on them, and the whole body dashed down the lane yelHng,
"Shoot the Yankee  of  !" One of the ad
vance guards was seen to fall from his horse as if kiHed,
whHe the other jumped to the ground and darted into the
woods. Our foragers, seeing they were greatly outnumbered,
after a volley from such as could shoot quickly, turned
and fled the way they came, pursued by what they now
knew to be Confederates disguised in clothing taken from
dead or captured Northern soldiers. The pursuit and
retreat were kept up for quite a distance, our men urging
their horses to their utmost speed. Looking down the
avenue on which they were rushing, they saw a com
pany of Confederate infantry approaching, and to avoid

246 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
them the whole squad turned to the left on an intersecting
road, except Bird's old Shellbark. He had steam up and
would not obey the bridle. In spite of all Bird could do he
thundered straight on down the road right into this new
host of the enemy.
The foragers made a detour to the highway on which
the main column of our corps was known to be marching,
and reaching the regiment late in the afternoon, told of
their misfortune — the loss of the two advance guards and
Bird's dash to destruction. He surely had been kiHed, be
cause firing had been heard in the direction he rode. They
had brought no forage, being satisfied with their escape.
The men of Company D soon heard the bad news, and
talked of Bird as dead, telling of his good quaHties, espe
cially of his wonderful daring, and forbearing to mention
what a desperate swearer he had become during his
dungeon experience. On halting for the night the sad
tidings were the sole subject of conversation. When the
old darkey cook BHl came up with the camp kettle and
mess pans — any horse over six years and any man, white or
black, over thirty, was called old by the boys — he listened to
the story in sHent dejection, amazing in one usually bois
terously cheerful, but after "studying" awhHe burst out
with, "No, gemmen, dey cain't hurt Bud, He wiH come in
all right. Ole SheHbok wiH fotch him sartin; you'uns wiH
see." Darkness and thousands of camp-fires were beginning to
reveal each other's presence when someone called out,
"Run here, boys! That looks like old Shellbark coming
over yonder," The road was soon fuH of staring men, and
sure enough it was old Shellbark, loaded down with for
age. Bird sitting on top with his legs dangfing one side,

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 247
whHe the bridle reins hung loose, the horse taking his
own gait and choosing his own way. The comrades sent
up a cheer when Bird came up, and the old darkey, pulling
him off, hugged him as he cried, "I tole 'em you would
come in all right, dat ole SheHbok would fotch you, and
sho' nuff heah you is." The boys and old BHl took the
load from the animal, which consisted of a hog with the
bristles stiH on, split in two so as to swing from each side
of the horse, besides chickens, sweet potatoes and other
provisions fit to gladden the hearts and satisfy the appe
tites of tired, marching men.
As soon as Bird had had his supper he was made to tell
his adventures. He said when he came to the forks of
the road in the mad flight, and saw the fresh force of the
enemy straight ahead, he aimed to pull off to the left with
the balance of the squad, but in spite of him his horse
rushed right on toward the approaching infantry. He saw
them getting ready to shoot, and presently could hear
them yelling to him to halt and surrender, but he could
not have stopped his horse even if he had wanted to. He
expected to be shot, so just shut his eyes and clung to old
Shellbark. After a moment which seemed an age, when
he knew he must have passed them, he opened his eyes and
just then several shots rang out. He could not help won
dering what kept them from firing sooner. After going
several mHes the horse slowed up, and finally dropped into
a walk. Bird found himself in a rich and productive country,
dotted with farm-houses, the inhabitants of which had left
on the approach of Sherman's army. There was neither
friend nor foe to divide or dispute with, so he loaded faith
ful old Shellbark with the abundant forage, and climbing

248 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
on top headed him for the road on which our division was
marching. Thanks to horse and rider, Company D had plenty to
eat that night, and some to spare for those who were not
so lucky. The remark was made later in not very elegant
English: "I guess it must have been that old race boss
Shellbark what cured Bird of his dreadful cussin' and dam-
min'." U. H. Farr: "One morning I started out at break of
day to forage for our ordnance train, and after trudging
along two or three hours, came to a fine mansion, and was
conducted by an old negro, the sole occupant of the exten
sive quarters, to a buHding containing some two hundred
bushels of shelled corn in sacks. WhHe I was watching and
waiting for the train a Lieutenant with a squad of men
searching for forage for the Second Division took posses
sion and ordered me to move on. As soon as the Third
Division, which was in advance that day, came in sight, I
saluted General Ward and told him the circumstances, and
asked for a detail of a Captain and ten men. The General
turned in his saddle and ordered a Colonel to do as I re
quested. As I now had a Captain under my command,
I proudly marched back to my forage and ordered the
Lieutenant to move on, who gave himself and myself, also,
great satisfaction by the volleys of oaths he poured out as
he departed. Greatly elated over my executive abHity, I
put the Captain and his men in charge of the corn, ordered
the wagonmaster when he appeared on the road to detach
several wagons to be loaded, and continued my foraging
expedition, saying to myself, 'Now that I have suppHed
all the animals of my division with feed for one day, it
becomes my duty to see that the men have sufficient food.

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 249
"But my pride was soon taken out of me, for the delay
had resulted in the seizure of everything by the advanc
ing troops. However, toward evening I came to a
house deserted by its owners, but left in charge of an old
colored couple who occupied a cabin near by. The yard
was full of chickens and a dog barked at me. When the
old slaves came out I told them I was a Yankee soldier,
one of Lincoln's men. They seemed stunned and just
stood and looked at me. I tried in vain to get the dog
to help me catch the chickens, whHe the old man stood
and stared at me as one dazed. I called him to help, and
as he stHl looked without moving, I recoHected that he had
always been a slave, used to the commands of white folks,
so I stormed at him and ordered him to take the dog and
help me catch the chickens. This brought him to his
senses, and he dashed in with the dog, and soon I was
almost loaded down with fat hens. One wilder than the
rest, chased by the negro and his dog, flew up a woody
slope toward the road on which the army was beginning
to pass. All of a sudden the man came dashing down that
slope, white as a negro ghost, leaped the yard fence at one
bound, rushed to his wife, slapped his hands on his thighs
and exclaimed over and over, 'Fore God, Dinah ! Fore God,
Dinah!' His amazed wife tried to get something else out
of him, and at last he cried out, 'De big road am fuH of
sogers, an' bosses, an' wagons, an' cannons; jist miles of
'em.' When I endeavored to get him to catch more chick
ens he was too crazy to hear me, but wHd with excitement
the two slaves began to pack up everything they could
carry to find freedom by following the army.
"As the army swept through the State, slaves in count
less numbers thronged after it, of all ages, sexes and con-

250 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ditions, from extreme old age to the new-born pickaninny
in the mother's arms; black slaves, mulatto slaves, slaves
so white that no Northern man would have thought that
a drop of African blood was in their veins. The throng
became so great that it impeded the movement of the army.
When we came to Broad River, above Columbia, the guaM
was instructed to allow no negro to pass over the pontoon
bridge unless he belonged to some command as cook or
hostler. When the army had crossed and the southern end
of the pontoon had been cut loose, a cloud of human be
ings covered the river bank for miles, and the wailing and
lamentation was indescribable. Imagine the surprise, how
ever, when within twenty-four hours thousands of the
poor creatures had found some way to cross and joined
the advancing host.
"The rebel army in our front, under the command of
Wade Hampton, was growing larger every day, and our
army was constantly on the lookout for serious opposition.
As we approached the Wateree, which is a broad, rapid
stream, means were adopted to secure a crossing without
opposition. Our brigade was marching that day in front
of the rest of the division, but one or more divisions were
in front of us. As darkness came on we expected to go into
camp soon, especially when we saw troops already en
camped for the night, but we passed through their camps,
our marching pace was quickened, and away we went
scurrying into the darkness. Our brigade, which seemed
to be alone, hurried on at a rapid rate till after midnight,
when it was massed in an open field, and the order was
passed along that perfect quiet must be maintained.
"Presently a wagon loaded with ropes and a skiff was
taken to the front, and then aH was so stiH that many of

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 251
the men, worn out by the long march, feH on the ground
and were soon fast asleep. The skiff was launched in the
Wateree just in front of us, and a few men rowed to the
farther shore carrying a small rope which was made fast to
a larger. Then the skiff was hurried back and forth, tak
ing more men, some of whom threw up a barricade, while
others pulled the heavier rope over. By the time the cable
was drawn across and fastened to a tree, a hundred men
from the head of the column were weH entrenched on the
opposite bank. A larger boat was put into use and men
in greater numbers were ferried over.
"The pontoon train now moved to the front, loaded with
material for making a floating bridge, and there was a
race in the darkness to see whether the night or the bridge
would be completed first. By daybreak the whole brigade
was over and had taken a strong position on the hiHs, and
by noon the Twentieth Corps was on the east side. By
night, however, the rain was pouring down in torrents,
and before aH the left wing had crossed, the bridge broke
loose at one end and the river had swollen tHl there were
no pontoons to span it. The right wing of the army was
in even a worse condition, and was compelled to take up
the bridge they had laid, march up to ours, splice it with
their boats and cross on this extended bridge.
"As it continued to rain night and day, the roads, the
fields, and the hiHs even, became quagmires, so that it was
necessary to corduroy the region before the wagons and
the artiHery could be drawn to the hiHs on the east side.
It took the army several days to cross this river, so that the
region was entirely stripped of provisions by the rebel and
Union forces, A quarter ration of bacon and crackers was
issued each day to keep the men from starving. When we

252 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
started on the march again we found white women stand
ing at the roadside with crying children hanging to their
skirts, holding out aprons or smaH baskets begging for
food. The men had not much left from their meager ra
tions, but they divided what they had. Some only had a
cracker, but they broke it in two and dropped the half in
the open apron. There to kill opposing men, and not
knowing when or where food for the future was to come
from, they could not bear to see women and children of
the enemy starving."
The following communication, somewhat condensed, is
from J. F. Snow of Company D: "At Cheraw, near the
north line of South Carolina, the foragers, under command
of Captain Fesler, secured a good supply of provisions
some twenty mHes from the army's line of march, and
started on their return to the regiment. Frank HaH of
Company A had found a buggy, which the rest of us had
loaded with forage and, going a long way ahead of the
main party, turned to the left when he should have taken
the road to the right. J. M. Brown, C. Townsend and
myself, all members of Company D, started to hunt him,
for the load in the carriage was for our company. It was
almost night when we set out, and was about ten o'clock
when we saw him coming towards us. He said he had been
looking from a hiH at a camp of Johnnies about a half mile
ahead. We told him to drive to a grist-miH some ten
miles away, where we had collected a lot of provisions, and
after we had taken a look at the Johnnies we would join
him. "Fires were burning brightly, as though the rebels had
just camped and were preparing supper. A farm-house was
nearby, surrounded by negro cabins, so we rode into the

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 253
yard, waked the negroes, and told them we were Yankees
and wanted something to eat. They gave us hoecake. A
large bloodhound discovered us. A buHet quieted him, but
roused the rebels. They beat the long roll, formed in
line and got ready for battle. We did not tarry to see
what else they did, but thought best to keep our engage
ment with Hall at the miH.
"The next morning Townsend and HaH went to camp
with all the forage they could carry, but Brown and I
remained to capture some horses and mules that we heard
were secreted in the brush, for we were anxious to get
something to carry the balance of our provisions. Our
luck was excellent, for we found a number of animals, and
had negroes riding some and leading others. Late in the
afternoon, when we were going to our rendezvous at the
.old mill, we saw rebel cavalry in front of us, so we gave
the Hoosier yeH and charged. The Johnnies skedaddled,
for they no doubt thought a troop of mounted Yankees
was after them. Fortunately the negroes did not see the
rebels, for if they had they would not have laughed as they
did, and most of them would have gone back, and taken
our stock with them.
"There were some of the One Hundred and Second Illi
nois regiment at the mill grinding corn, and as they were
like brothers to us, we loaned them our animals to carry
provisions to camp, they agreeing to give us half for the use
of our stock. Brown and I set out for camp, twenty miles
away, but when we had gone fifteen miles we heard that
our army had moved on, and that the rebels were camped
where the Yankees had been. Not believing this, we went
to see, and got a company of rebel cavalry after us. We
struck out for the old mHl again as fast as our horses could

254 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
go, and soon gathered eighteen other foragers, making a
squad of twenty in all. Night was on us, but the moon
was shining.
"The company having selected me for leader, I went hi
advance, and seeing two objects in the road, dashed for
ward and questions and answers came quick as flashes of
Hghtning: 'Where do you belong?' 'One Hundred and
Second Illinois!' 'Where are your comrades that were at
the mHl?' 'All kiHed or captured but us two, and one of
us has a flesh wound in the thigh.' 'How many rebels
attacked you, and where are they now?' 'About a hun
dred, and they are coming this way.'
"Now we were in a fix, with the enemy in our front and
rear and our army gone. The only thing to be done was
to leave our horses in the timber and go afoot. We were
fastening the animals about a hundred yards from the road
when the two companies of rebels met on the very spot we
had just abandoned. Our liorses were securely tied to the
trees, and as they were tired they did not betray us by
making a noise. We took nothing but our guns and
ammunition and started down Jones Creek for the Great
Pedee River. Although undiscovered by them, we saw
the enemy's pickets plainly and had to crawl through the
lines on our hands and knees. When the boys got tired
we would stop for a few minutes' rest, and as some of them
would go to sleep as soon as we halted, we had to wake
such of them as we could find. Every now and then one
would be left, so that only eleven of the twenty-two reached
the Pedee River. God help those we lost, was our thought.
"When Brown and I finally caught up to the wagon
train we were more dead than alive, for we had had four
days and three nights of as hard marching as ever feH to

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 255
the lot of mortal man. More than thirty-five years have
passed, and I have not recovered from this trip, and no
doubt it hastened Brown to his grave. He was a true
comrade and a brave man, always ready to perform any
duty." With characteristic unwillingness to say anything that
would give pain to relatives Brown does not mention this
adventure in his letters, but writes just thereafter, in his
usual cheery way, as follows: "We are compelled to wade
aH the smaHer watercourses. These, in some cases, are
waist deep, and one of the most amusing sights of the
service is to be seen just after crossing some of the deepest
of these streams. We are allowed time to stop and dry
our clothing, and to see a regiment of men, company offi
cers and aH, standing around fires, each man holding up
his pants or drawers, is fun, at least for us boys. Many
times we were not permitted to stop, but trudged right
on through mud and water, our clothing drying as we
marched. There has been rain in abundance and we have
found food rather scarce on this march. While in the pine
swamps near the North CaroHna line our mess sent out
James Simpson to forage, and after being out a night and
two days, he returned with a half-dozen ears of corn, and
these he said he had just stolen from the Colonel's horse."
Poor Billy!
U. H. Farr: "From Rocky Mount we marched to
Chesterfield and to Sneedsboro, North Carolina. Going
down the river, we crossed it at Cheraw, which we found a
mass of burning ruins. During the march through South
Carolina the enemy was malignant, the citizens hiding from
the army, but coming out and pouncing upon our men
whenever they could be found in numbers smaH enough to

256 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
be overpowered. The bodies of the dead Union soldiers
showed very plainly that they had not been kiHed in open
fight, but that subsequent to their surrender they had been
stabbed, their throats cut, and their bodies mutilated after
death. This was not regarded as war, so when one of our
men was found in this condition, two prisoners were shot
and the rebel commanders officially informed of the fact,
and told to warn the people to discontinue their barbarous
practices. "From Cheraw we moved toward Fayetteville on the
Cape Fear River. The rebels took a stand twO' or three
miles from this city, but our foragers, representing every
company in the army, forming quite a host when united,
came into collision with his outposts. These men pushed
the outposts back on the main body, which they found
intrenched. As if by instinct the thousands of foragers,
though mounted in every conceivable manner, formed in
line, counted off cavalry fashion, dismounted, leaving every
fourth man to hold the horses, and carried the rifle pits at
the point of the bayonet. The horses were then brought
up, the enemy driven into Fayetteville and across the river.
The day we lay at Fayetteville a monitor from Wilming
ton arrived with dispatches, and we heard of the fall of
Charleston and the general news, the first we had received
from the outside world since leaving the vicinity of Savan
nah." Templeton Smith, H. Rapp and C. Tucker of Company
B, entered a dwelling where the mistress had prepared an
elegant dinner — roast turkey, sweet potatoes and hot bis
cuit — for General Joe Wheeler and staff. These unin
vited guests in blue were greeted by the reluctant hostess
with, "Get out of here or I'll scald you." A threat of the

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 257
bayonet shut off danger from hot water, but did not stop
the torrent of vituperation. While a deluge of words was
engulfing Rapp and Tucker, Smith scooped the turkey,
potatoes and biscuits into a huge dishpan, quickly wrapped
the tablecloth around to keep them warm and disappeared.
The lady doubtless is still unconverted and talking yet,
but Wheeler's later history almost makes one feel sorry for
him. U. H. Farr: "Having moved out from FayetteviHe
early on the morning of March sixteenth, we heard artil
lery firing in our advance. The second and third brigades
of our division were in front of the enemy with two or
three batteries, the infantry supporting the artillery. The
guns were pushed up closer and closer by hand, whHe they
poured shells into the enemy's entrenchments, — a low line
of dirt rifle pits running across the flat country. The in
fantry, of course, moved up with the guns, keeping as
close to the ground as possible, so as to offer no mark to
the enemy. Meanwhile our brigade was sent to the left
through the woods, and passing around the right end of
the enemy's line, formed at right angles to his works.
When the firing began the rebels made no effort to stop
this flank movement, but stampeded to the rear, leaving
many wounded and dead and two pieces of Hght artiHery.
General Hardee came near capture while he was watching
the troops in front. Suddenly he saw the flanking line,
put spurs to his horse and dashed from the field."
J. M. Wills: "Near Averasborough our corps came
upon the rebel army strongly fortified, and we had a
hard fight. Our brigade charged a battery, kHled or cap
tured aH the horses, took fifty-six prisoners and seized one
twelve-pounder gun and one twelve-pounder howitzer.

258 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
"My squad of foragers, whHe passing through a heavy
piece of pine timber, found a wagonload of white corn.
We took possession, and going to a smaH miH, started it
and ground our grain into meal. One bushel per hour was
the capacity of that mill. WhHe engaged in this slow work
we saw something in the water that excited our curiosity.
It proved to be a fine small brass cannon, named the Star
of the West. One wheel had gotten out of order, and in
their haste to get away the rebels had thrown the Star
of the West into the mill-jpond. While foraging we asked
a young black man where his people had hidden their
meat. 'Lah, Massa, up in the woods.' He led the way
to the place, and we resurrected sixty-four hams, six for
each company and four for the field and staff.
"After the Averasborough battle we had a good many
sick and wounded to care for, and I was detaHed with ten
others to forage for the hospital. While we were in dis
charge of our duty, one of the boys got into an old shuck-
pen and found eighty-seven dollars in fifty-cent pieces.
The sick and wounded could not eat these; they might
give comfort to the enemy, so we thought the best use we
could make of them was to divide them equally among
ourselves. "While the army was moving toward Goldsboro we
foragers ran on to Wheeler's cavalrymen. They disap
peared without waiting for our orders, and we entered a
farm-house not far away, where we found the owner at
home, as he was too rich to be in the army. There was side
meat in great abundance and yams by the wagonload. It
struck me that every hog had as many hams as sides, so
after searching we found an opening into the garret, where
was concealed the kind of meat a sick or wounded man

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 259
would relish. We selected and threw down twenty-four of
the best hams, added them to our wagonload of yams, and
bid the former owner good-day. The meanest trick I saw
in my foraging experience was done that morning. The
man of the house had on a new pair of jean pantaloons,
woven from red and white yarn that had been twisted to
gether. A boy from the One Hundred and Second Illi
nois made him haul off his good trousers and swap for the
dirty, ragged ones the Sucker wore."
U, H. Farr : "As we marched through Averasborough
many crippled rebels with arms in slings or heads ban
daged, crowded out of the hospital and watched us passing
by. All of a sudden a wounded soldier rushed into the
ranks and seized one of the Seventy-ninth boys, caHing out
to him, 'Hello, Jamie!' The two Irishmen, who had been
close friends before the war, but had separated, the one
going South, the other West, actually hugged each other.
The friend of Jamie, a conscript forced intO' the rebel
army, declared that nothing could keep him from joining
his companion; though wounded he could march, and
the next morning he was keeping step with his friend.
"On the morning of March nineteenth, soon after we
started, the booming of cannon was heard from the direc
tion the Fourteenth Corps had taken. At first but little
attention was paid to this, but as we drew nearer and the
roar increased and became incessant, and the rattle of
musketry was perceived, the ranks closed up, and the Hst-
less, tired look disappeared from every face. Soon orderlies
on sweating horses dashed down the road, and away we
went on the double-quick to support our hard-pressed
comrades. Just as we reached the field the rebels were
making a charge, but through the belching of cannon and

26o THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
the crash of musketry a loud cheer could be heard to the
right, showing that our men, at that point at least, had
repulsed the attack. Our brigade was hurried into Hne
and thrown out to the left, where the rebels seemed to be
contemplating a flank movement. A skirmish line was
pushed out to the left of this line even, through a dense
woods, to prevent surprise. Assault after assault was made
by the rebels, each one feebler than the one preceding,
extending the battle into the night, but at last the noise
ceased, and the men lay quiet, expecting to renew the con
test in the morning.
"Two or three days later General Sherman took his
station by the roadside, and we passed in review as we
approached Goldsboro: We marched in platoons, and I
doubt if at any time the troops of the rebel army were
more ragged than we. Probably one man in a dozen had
a fuH suit of clothes, but even this suit was patched or fuH
of holes. Most of the men had used aH the makeshifts
possible to keep up something like decent clothing. Many
were bareheaded or had a handkerchief tied around the
head. Many had on hats they had found in the houses
along the line of march, an old worn-out affair in every
instance^ — tall crushed sHk hats, some revolutionary styles,
many without tops, caps so holey that the hair was sticking
out, brimless hats, brimless caps, hats mostly brim. Many
men had no coats or wore buttonless blouses, and being
without shirts their naked chests protruded. Many a
coat had no sleeves, or one only, the sleeves having been
used to patch the seat or knees of the trousers, in a mend
ing that did not mend appearances, for the dark blue of
the patch contrasted with the light color of the pantaloons.
The thread used was coarse white cotton twine, and the

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 261
amateur tailor fastened the patch to the outside with long
running stitches. Generally both legs of the trousers were
off nearly to the knees, though now and then a man more
fortunate had only one leg exposed. Socks had disap
peared weeks before, and many a shoeless patriot, with feet
torn by briars in the recent advance through the thickets
at Bentonville and Averasborough, kept step with a half-
shod comrade. But the men who had cut off the tails of
their dress coats 'to stop a hole to keep the wind away,'
though bronzed and weather-beaten, marched by General
Sherman with heads up and a springy, elastic step, every
motion speaking a willingness to follow wherever he might
lead. "Bandbox soldiers, as the boys good-naturedly called
them, who had recently come on vessels from the North,
fined the road as spectators, cheered uproariously and
laughed tiH the tears ran down their faces whenever the
panorama of raggedness became unusually ludicrous, but
the General, whose hat was off through it all, bowed the
lower when some sinewy specimen of military humanity,
whose clothing hung in tatters worn to shreds by rail-
carrying and wagon-lifting, indifferent to the merriment
of the onlookers, stepped proudly in front of his leader.
Occasionally the marching army, forgetting that it was
passing in review, remembering aH that had been accom
pHshed in the past, and confident that Johnston's and
Lee's armies must go down before its onset, would burst
into triumphant cheers."
General W. T. Ward's report, which is too comprehen
sive for insertion here, mentions in terms of highest praise
the members of his staff from the Seventieth Indiana, Cap
tain Scott and Lieutenants Hardenbrook and Harryman.

262 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
It may be proper to introduce extracts from Generals
Sherman's and Slocum's reports:
I beg to express, in the most emphatic manner, my entire
satisfaction with the tone and temper of the whole army.
Nothing seems to dampen their energy, zeal or cheerfulness.
It is impossible to conceive a march involving more labor
and exposure, yet I cannot recall an instance of bad temper
by the way or hearing an expression of doubt as to our perfect
success in the end. I believe that this cheerfulness and har
mony of action reflects upon all concerned quite as much
real honor and fame as "battles gained" or "cities won," and
I therefore commend all — generals, staff, officers, and men —
for these high qualities, in addition to the more soldierly ones
of obedience to orders and the alacrity they have always man
ifested when danger summoned them "to the front."
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
W. T. SHERMAN,
Major-General, Commanding.
Goldsboro, N. C, April 4, 1865.
I have witnessed on the campaign scenes which have given
me a more exalted opinion than I ever before entertained
of the earnest patriotism which actuates the soldiers of this
army. I have repeatedly seen soldiers of my command, who
were making parched corn supply the place of bread and who
were nearly destitute of shoes and clothing, go cheerfully to
their labor in the swamps of South CaroHna, working hour
after hour in mud and water to bring forward our immense
trains, and yet during all these privations and hardships I
have never heard from an officer or soldier one word of com
plaint. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. SLOCUM,
Major-General, Commanding,
Goldsboro, N. C, March 30, 1865.

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS" 263
Hdqrs. Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
Near Goldsboro, N. C, March 26, 1865.
I have the honor to make the following report relating to
the recent march from Savannah, Ga., to this place to date:
The regiment destroyed about one mile of track, captured
nineteen horses, twenty-six mules and about fifty head of cat
tle. Destroyed no cotton gins or cotton. About fifty negroes
followed the regiment.
Obtained from the country through which we passed forage
for seventy-five horses and mules; supplies or rations for five
hundred and ten officers and men for about forty-two days
during the march.
Z. S. RAGAN,
Major Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
Lieut. A. H. Trego,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
Itinerary as found in Lieutenant J. C, Bennett's diary for
1865: February first and second, RobertsvHle.
February third, Lawtonville.
February fourth, Orins.
February fifth, Alison.
February eighth, Graham's Turnout.
February ninth, Blackville.
February tenth, Williston.
February eleventh. South Edisto.
February twelfth. North Edisto.
February thirteenth, five miles from North Edisto.
February fourteenth, crossroads at Lexington and Co
lumbia. February fifteenth, near Lexington Court House.
February sixteenth, congaree in front of Columbia.
February seventeenth, near Saluda River.
February eighteenth, between Saluda and Broad.
February nineteenth, on Broad River.
February twentieth, marched all night.
February twenty-first, passed through Winnsborough,

264 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
February twenty-second, crossed Big Wateree, camped on
east side Catawba.
February twenty-third, marched southeast five miles.
February twenty-fourth, marched five miles through mud
and rain.
February twenty-fifth, remained in camp.
February twenty-sixth, at Hanging Rock.
February twenty-seventh, lay in camp.
February twenty-eighth, between Hanging Rock and Linch
Creek. March first, crossed Little and Big Linch Creeks. Camp
two miles beyond.
March second, marched ten miles toward Chesterfield,
March fourth, left Chesterfield and camped in North Car
olina. March fifth, stopped in camp.
March sixth, camped near Cheraw.
March seventh, passed through Cheraw at four o'clock a.
m. and camped sixteen miles out on Fayetteville road, near
railroad. March eighth, marched eleven miles and stopped on Little
Creek. March ninth, encampment on Lumber River.
March tenth, spent the night near Rock Fish Creek.
March eleventh, made corduroy road as we marched and
camped near Fayetteville.
March twelfth, staid in camp.
March thirteenth, marched through Fayetteville. Arsenal
building fine. Crossed Cape Fear River and camped four
mHes beyond.
March fourteenth, while in camp here a detaH went to Wil
mington. March fifteenth, marched ten miles, bummers driving the
rebels before them.
March sixteenth, skirmishing all day. Our brigade cap
tured three pieces of artillery. Drove rebels five mHes and
camped at Huckleberry swamp.

"THEN THEY MARCHED FIVE PARASANGS"- 265
March seventeenth, dined at Averasborough. Rebels left
thirty of their wounded here.
March eighteenth, marched day and night, wading two
swamps. March nineteenth, breakfasted at five o'clock A. M., then
marched on ten miles and built breastworks on the left of the
Fourteenth Corps.
March twentieth, moved forward a half-mile and built new
breastworks. March twenty-first, fell back to old line, then advanced to
new line again.
March twenty-second, marched towards Goldsboro.
March twenty-third, crossed Neuse River and camped
within four miles of Goldsboro.
March twenty-fourth, marched through Goldsboro to camp
three miles beyond.
March twenty-sixth, our new colors came, costing three
hundred and twenty-five dollars.
April fifth, the Seventieth and the One Hundred and Fifth
went foraging some six miles out. Some of the boys got too
much whisky. The preaching at night from the fifty-fifth
chapter of Isaiah seemed quite appropriate.
April sixth, review by General Mower. Received news of
the fall of Richmond.
April ninth, preparing for another campaign.
April tenth, we left Goldsboro.

CHAPTER XV,
RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME
At Goldsboro, on March twenty-sixth, the colors which
had been ordered from New York came, costing three hun
dred and twenty-five doHars. The hatless, shoeless, ragged,
smoke-begrimed, weather-stained boys came crowding up
as they were unfurled. One tattered enthusiast broke out
with, "Lord, boys, they'll think we're a new regiment and
come charging to take us in; but won't they be fooled
though?" A shock-headed fellow, with brawny arms,
gleaming eyes and compressed lips muttered, "By God, the
rebel division can't be found that can take them away from
us!" Sterne would have said, "The recording angel, as
he wrote it down, dropped a tear and blotted it out for
ever." U. H. Farr: "We camped in some pine woods northeast
of Goldsboro, and busied ourselves for the next week read
ing and writing letters, cleaning guns, drawing clothes,
foraging and doing picket duty. When the news of the
fall of Petersburg and Richmond came, and the order to
move against Johnston was received, there was a night of
uproar, men cheering and canteens exploding.
"On the tenth of AprH we moved out and reached Smith-
field the next evening, to find the rebel army had fallen
back to Raleigh. The next morning early, and before our
part of the command had left the camp, we heard loud
cheering in front of us at the town. This cheering kept
up at a certain point all the morning. As we drew near
the edge of the town, about eight or nine o'clock, we saw
266

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 267
General Sherman to the left of the road walking back and
forth. A staff officer stepped out and handed Colonel
Merrill a paper. He stopped his horse and the regiment
halted in the road. The Colonel read so we all heard, that
General Lee had surrendered his army to General Grant
at Appomattox, and the order also to press Johnston. Wild
cheers were given, although the news was almost too good
to beheve, and the men started off briskly toward Raleigh.
"The day we approached that city, April thirteenth, the
Seventieth was in front and had been informed that the
rebel army was still there. All day long our advance guard
and we of the regular column had expected to run across
the enemy's outposts, and now from the high roHing
ground the church spires of the town could be seen gHt-
tering in the evening sunshine. A little in our advance
men were seen standing in the road, and as we came up
they proved to be city officials, who had come out to make
a surrender of the place, and to say that the rebel army was
forty miles away at Greenville."
April fifteenth, Lieutenant Bennett: "A protracted
meeting has been in progress for some time, conducted by
Chaplains Scott, Baptist, of the One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth IHinois; Stillwell, Methodist, of the Seventy-ninth
Ohio, and Allen, Presbyterian, of the Seventieth Indiana.
On Sunday the Lord's Supper was celebrated. Twelve
comrades were baptized. There have been from twelve to
fifteen inquirers every night. We arrange the grounds in
old campmeeting style by roHing logs together and laying
boards across for seats. At the four corners of the ground
elevated fire stands are made by driving four forked stakes
in the earth and covering them first with poles, then with
dirt. Pine knots burning on these tall lamp stands give us

268 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
light. We construct a platform for the chaplains. Twelve
joined the Christian Association one night, signing this
bond of union:
" 'We do hereby acknowledge to each other, and to our
God, our belief in the Holy Scriptures, and that they are
the only sufficient rule for our faith and practice; and our
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners,
and do pledge ourselves by the grace of God to live as
becometh the Gospel of Christ.' "
U. H. Farr : "While terms of Johnston's surrender were
being discussed, news came of President Lincoln's assassi
nation, which cast a gloom over the entire army. The men,
who had never dreamed of such a stroke, were moved pro
foundly, and the longing for one more battle, in which no
prisoners should be taken, was universal."
Lieutenant Ketcham: "Our joy is changed to sorrow;
our friendship toward the vanquished to bitter hatred. If
it be true that our beloved President is thus cruelly mur
dered, it seems to me that Providence permits it, because
he has been, and would be, too lenient to these proud, over
bearing, ignorant Southern 'gentlemen,' and that Johnson
wiH crush their cruel, wicked spirit with his iron heel. I
must confess I begin to hate the scoundrels for the first
time." U. H. Farr: "Company D was detailed to guard the
Insane Asylum, a large brick building in the suburbs of
Raleigh. One day I was on guard at the front door on
the veranda, and as some trouble had arisen because the
superintendent had refused to admit a negro soldier who
had lost his reason, a General who was temporarily in com
mand during Sherman's absence, came to investigate the
matter. I was pacing back and forth on the veranda

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 269
when this General and a Lieutenant came up. I did not
notice who it was, but saw the two stars on his shoulder
straps, so faced outward and brought my gun to a present
arms. As they passed, the Lieutenant gave me a salute in
return, but the General did not. I was mad, and decided
that as the General came out I would stop him and make
him salute me, as no officer had a right to pass a sentinel
without saluting. After waiting a long while I saw them
emerge from a door into the hall and start toward me,
but when they came into plain view I saw that the General
had one empty sleeve stuffed into a pocket, and looking
into his face I reco'gnized General Howard. My wrath,
which had flashed up so quickly, died in a second; so I
faced out, presented arms, and was answered by a salute
from the Lieutenant and a bow from the General.
"The army became restless, and the men were on the
hunt for anything interesting or amusing. A man oc
cupied a cell in the asylum with a window overlooking a
wide space. He did not seem to be at all insane, was
smart, a good singer, knew a lot of rebel songs, and could
teH stories to perfection. He professed to be a Union man
and begged to be released. He had a vioHn and knew
how to use it. He would drop down a line and draw up
eatables the boys would give him. Soldiers would come
in from all the command and stand outside the guard line,
some sixty to eighty feet away, and Hsten to him sing and
play, and as the days came and went more and more came
to hear him, tiH finally they began to clamor for him to be
let out, and to contend that he was truly a Union man,
imprisoned because he would not fight for the South.
"One day I was on guard at the beat his window over
looked, when the crowd began to assemble earlier than

270 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
usual, so that before noon hundreds of men were standing
just outside my beat with upturned faces listening to
Rainey, that was his name, sing. I marched back and
forth, with my bayonet pointing toward the crowd, and
whenever a man advanced I lunged at him and ordered
him to keep back. But it was not long till the hundreds
had sweHed into thousands, and the crowd in the rear
pressed those in advance over the sentinel's beat. The
crowd in front of me gave way before my swinging gun,
but as soon as I passed they would surge over again. I
patiently marched back and cleared the path again. I did
this time after time, till I grew hot and tired and hoarse.
Some of the men now became bold and would not give
way untH they felt the bayonet; then they began to threaten
and curse me. I was just ready to caH on my company
for help, when aH at once, while I was near the middle of
my beat, I heard some one in my rear storm out, 'Back!
Back!' and I heard the men behind me giving back and
saw those in front of me falling back while looking at
something in my rear. I heard a saber and other trappings
rattling, but I did not turn tiH I got to the end of my beat,
when I faced about and saw Major-General Mower swing
ing his drawn sword and yeHing, 'Give back,' while his
horse went plunging among the men, who were tumbHng
over each other to get out of the way. I saluted him, and
he saw that the sweat was pouring off my face, and that
I was nearly exhausted. He turned on the men, exclaim
ing, 'Soldiers, I am surprised at you. Here you have been
imposing on this sentinel, who had a right to shoot you
down, but he forebore to do it. You aH know the duty
of a sentinel, for I see by your bronzed faces that you are
veterans. Shame on you for so far forgetting yourselves

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 271
as to impose on the. good-natured forbearance of a sen
tinel, one of your own comrades. Now disperse to your
quarters, and do not assemble here again. Sentinel, load
your gun and shoot down the first man who attempts to
press on your beat again.' Shortly after this Rainey, hav
ing been examined by the surgeons, was released and fol
lowed the army to the North.
"AprH twenty-second we again passed in review before
General Sherman. On the twenty-fifth we marched to
wards Jones' Cross Roads, twelve miles, and on the
twenty-eighth moved back to Raleigh.
"Soon it was announced that the war was ended, and
that the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Twentieth
Corps would march to Washington. On the morning of
the thirtieth of AprH the four corps broke camp amid the
cheers of the thousands of men, and the white tents that so
thickly dotted the plain around the city came down as if
by magic. As we marched through the city of Raleigh
the bands of each brigade or division played, and the men
of the Twenty-third Corps lined the streets to bid us fare
well. The march soon became a race between the four
corps, and the miles were passed over rapidly. The men
from General Lee's army, whom we met in large numbers,
were ragged and had nothing to eat and no blankets, but
the weather was warm, and Httle bedding was needed by
old soldiers. When we met them, as we were going into
camp, we invited them to sleep with us, and at such times
talked over the events of the war till far into the night.
We always found these ex-rebels friendly and glad that
the war was over, and the parting in the moming would
be like leave-taking of old friends.
"After we crossed the Roanoke we came to a section

272 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
of country where the people had never seen a Yankee sol
dier, and as we approached a town white and black turned
out to see us. Our bands always played, and we marched
on time and made a fine display. The people seemed sur
prised that Sherman's army was so large, so well equipped
and so well disciplined, as they had been led to think that
it was a rough rabble of disorganized cut-throats."
An officer writes: "All along the road through North
Carolina and Virginia we were greeted most enthusias
tically by the dusky inhabitants, who at the command of
the jolly soldiers would run forward, halt, dance, throw up
their hats, hurrah for Sherman, lie down, roll over and
attempt to do all these things at once in the vain effort to
obey a dozen contradictory orders. An old feHow with
¦¦wooden-soled shoes, the uppers of which were of leather
in the Robinson Crusoe style, hairy side out, came rushing
from the woods yelling like a locomotive, 'Hurrah for the
United  ,' and then stood wool gathering, trying to
recall the word States. Another, who had thrown himself,
or rather his voice, away in the excitement, at the order
to give three cheers, squawked, squeaked and squealed,
and then whispered as if splitting his throat, 'O Massa,
I'se done hollered so much I jist can't make no noise.'
"At WiHiamsboro, a vHlage of a half dozen houses, the
whole region seemed to have turned out, men, women and
pickaninnies foHowing the musicians, capering in the most
comical manner, performing astonishing antics whenever
the bass drummer applied his sticks with extra force.
'Play! play! I say!' screamed a white urchin who was so
unfortunate as to reach the road all breathless, just as the
music ceased. With all the dignity of the Emperor of
Soudan an aged African quieted the young patrician with,

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 273
'Don't you be ordern dem gemmen' 'roun, sah; now I teH
you.' "One of our captains, whose courage is only equaled by
his integrity, and his patriotism by his faith in the brother
hood of man, caught sight of a scarecrow, so the boys of
his company teH it. Instantly his sympathetic soul was
moved, and he caHed out, 'Hello there. Sambo, come along.
Don't you know you're free?' "
U. H. Farr: "We marched through Richmond, then
through Spottsylvania Court House, and came to the
works some quarter of a mHe away. The timber was lit-
eraHy riddled, the trees from the ground up being left in
splinters, not a whole tree standing, but stumps, some
short, some long, and these pecked full of holes by minie
balls. As we passed along the road about a mile from the
Court House we came to a point where General Hancock
made an early morning attack, carrying the rebel works
and capturing thousands of prisoners, though by a counter
charge the enemy regained their works. A breastwork of
several rods had been made of Enfield and Springfield rifles
as high as a man's head, and the ground in front of this
Hne of works was thickly strewn with dead Union soldiers.
I saw over a thousand dead as far as I went, the bodies
rotten and the skin of the faces dried in the sun, but the
blue cloth of the uniforms sound and the color unchanged.
Some of the dead were sitting upright against trees, and
others showed that they had been wounded in the legs and
had ripped up the clothing to bandage the leg and stop the
flow of blood, and had died in that condition. None had
been buried in that part of the field. Out along the road
we were marching, however, most of the dead bodies had
a few spadesful of dirt thrown over them, but in almost

274 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
every instance some extremity was left uncovered. I saw
feet sticking out of the dirt, or a hand protruding, as if
mutely appealing for help.
"As we passed through the battle grounds of Spottsyl
vania Court House and the WHderness our part of the
command was in front, but it was reported that night in
the camps that General Sherman detailed men to bury the
dead on those two fields. I heard many comments from
our men not altogether complimentary to Grant or Meade
for faifing to bury their dead. It is true the rebels held
both of those battlefields after the conflict had ended, and
as Grant was endeavoring to swing his army around to
the left and come in between the rebel army and Rich
mond, and as Lee was always moving to the right, the
rebels were in possession of the field last, but Meade's
troops must have marched to Washington over those same
roads, and they should have buried their dead as they
passed. We pitched our camp that night on the Chancel-
lorsville battlefield, at about the point where the left wing
of the Eleventh Corps was resting when it was assaulted
by Jackson's command, — where it was crushed and igno-
miniously routed."
An officer writes: "Our way led us through the Spottsyl
vania battle ground. Everywhere were visible the terrible
signs of the struggle — trees mowed down by artillery,
lowly mounds, with nothing to testify whose was the rest
ing place, and, sadder stiH, unburied remains. Bones lay
by the roadside; and in a yard where a woman stood and
discoursed about the struggle to inquirers, lay two skuHs,
silent evidences of her inhumanity. In a thicket nearby,
where the appaHing stillness seems never to have been
broken except by owl, or bat, or raven, lie hundreds of

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 275
skeletons. Some had collected as they lay wounded such
sticks and twigs as were within their reach, and had striven
to erect a barrier to protect them from further injury.
Some had taken the straps from their knapsacks to bind a
severed artery, and now the leather lying loosely about the
bone told pathetically of the vain effort.
"We encamped on the field of ChanceHorsvHle. Orders
prohibiting rail burning have been very strict, but in this
vicinity, where contending armies have destroyed every
thing, they are superfluous. A former member of the
Twenty-seventh, now of the Seventieth, amused his com
rades by informing them that, for old times' sake, he meant
to boil his coffee that night by a rail fire; for, two years
before, he had crossed a little stream by the aid of a raH.
Sure enough the rail was found, the coffee boiled, and
listeners gathered round the blaze to hear once more the
oft-repeated story of Hooker's victory and defeat.
"Some of us visited the Wilderness battle ground, and
saw there the same sad scenes. The commingled bones of
horse and rider, all the possessions of the soldier, from the
envelope with its faint address in a woman's hand to the
broken gun, lie scattered over the ground. Knapsacks,
placed together by companies before they made a charge,
and for which the owners never returned, remain in decay
ing heaps. 'Tis a gloomy sepulchre, where the trees, in
tenderly covering with leaves the remains of the patriots,
alone perform the last sad offices. The wind moans
through the pines, tears faH at home for them, but they
sleep on, unconscious of a weeping nation.
"An old, gray-haired man leaned upon his hoe handle
trying to quiet his trembling head as he said, 'Ah, sir;
there are thousands of both sides lying unburied in the

276 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Wilderness. A fire broke out and hundreds of the helpless
were burned to death.' "
U. H. Farr: "Emerging from the WHderness we
marched by the old Chancellor house, which was some
half mile from our place of bivouac, and showed shell
marks and that the woodwork had been burned, leaving the
bare walls standing. We crossed the Rappahannock a mile
or so farther on by a pontoon bridge. The country was
destitute of inhabitants, for no houses remained. We
reached the vicinity of Alexandria the nineteenth of May,
1865, and settled down for a few days' rest.
"On the morning of the twenty-fourth we struck tents
and marched, going by way of Alexandria around the south
end of Arlington Heights, and crossing the long bridge to
Washington, passed by the Capitol up Pennsylvania ave
nue. In the grounds facing the avenue stands had been
put up for the reviewing officers."
An officer writes: "Yesterday, for the last time, we
passed in review before all the great officials of the Govern
ment, and the representatives of foreign nations. The
swaying battalions marching down the avenue, the cheer
ing multitudes lining either side, formed a spectacle never
to be forgotten. At last we have made the 'Grand Rounds,'
and our work is done. Every heart was heavy, and many
an eye was moist as we approached the reviewing stand,
for the kindly welcoming face we had longed to see had
vanished forever. One is tempted to feel sometimes that
life is made up of hopes and mockeries. * * *
"While I was looking over the recent publications in a
bookstore, to which I had hastened, for I have been so long
without books that the touch of one thriHs me, the pro
prietor approached me and fell into conversation, remark-

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 277
ing after awhHe, 'I suppose you officers are sorry the war's
over, as you wiH now lose your job?' 'What!' I exclaimed,
for I could scarcely beheve my ears. He repeated the ob
servation. It was hard to keep hands off of him, but
turning to go I said, 'There may be such creatures lying
around Washington, but I have never seen officer or pri
vate show anything but delight at the approach of peace,
and you are the first man I ever heard express such a sus
picion, or utter such a sentiment.'
"It's amazing, but the atmosphere of Washington can
make a dog even of a handler of books."
U. H. Farr: "Early on the morning of June ninth we
boarded the freight cars on the B. & O. R. R. When we
arrived at Grafton, West Virginia, about midnight, we
got off for lunch, and found men under a shed nearby mak
ing coffee for us in large iron kettles. They had a lot of
fat pickeled pork, boHed, and bread in loaves. After we had
eaten we took what we wanted of the provisions in our
haversacks. About noon next day we arrived at Parkers-
burg, and about dusk boarded a steamboat, reaching
Lawrenceburg just after dark, twenty-four hours later.
When the gangplanks were thrown out we made a rush
to see who should first set foot on Indiana soil. The citi
zens were in waiting to receive us, and we were divided
up in squads of two to twelve or more, and taken in charge
by young ladies largely, conducted to their homes, enter
tained in royal style, and given good suppers. We arrived
at Indianapolis the next morning and were met by many
friends. At the arsenal we turned over our guns to the
United States officials, and then went to the Soldiers'
Home for dinner. At Camp Carrington we were given
a barrack building for each company, where we remained

278 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
some seven days tHl we were paid off, got our discharges
and reached home on the eighteenth of June, 1865."
Headquarters First Brigade,
Third Division, Twenty-first Army Corps,
Near Washington, D, C, May 31, 1865.
Captain — I herewith transmit to you the report of Col.
Henry Case of the operations of this brigade from tenth of
April, when the command left Goldsboro, to the nineteenth,
same month, when I resumed command. I have also the
honor to submit the following report of the movements of the
brigade from April nineteenth, 1865, to the present time :
From the nineteenth of AprH to the twenty-fifth the brigade
remained in camp at Raleigh, the time being spent in refitting
and in the ordinary routine of camp duties. On the twenty-
fifth of April, the negotiations with the rebel leaders having
failed, the army was again put in motion toward the enemy.
This brigade broke camp at 7 :30 A. M., and marched fifteen
miles west of south to Jones' Cross Roads, where we encamped.
The army having been put upon half rations before leaving
Raleigh, foraging was again resumed, and though the country
was poor, sufficient forage and subsistence was procured for
the men and public animals. The command remained at the
crossroads until the twenty-eighth of April, when it was
again moved back to Raleigh and put in its old camp. On
the thirtieth day of April the whole army took up the line of
march for Richmond, Va., and Washington, D. C. Orders
received before starting contemplated that this march was to
be conducted with a view to the comfort of the troops, and
suggested fifteen miles per day as the limit, unless circum
stances should require a longer march. Orders also required
all foraging from the country to cease, and prohibited soldiers
from entering private houses on any pretense. The march
was not made as easy or comfortable to the troops as the order
contemplated. The average march per day being above the
limit suggested, and on some days so far exceeding it that the
troops were very much worried and exhausted, extending on

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND PIOME 279
one or two days to twenty-three and twenty-five mHes. On
the part of the troops the orders were faithfully observed; it
was really surprising to see an army so long accustomed to
living off the country and to the irregularities necessarily re
sulting at once resume their habits of order and good dis
cipline, and is highly creditable to the army. Only one or two
slight cases of thieving came to my knowledge during the
whole march.
On the ninth of May the brigade went into camp about six
miles from Richmond, Va., where we remained until the elev
enth, when we again moved, passing through Manchester and
Richmond, and went into camp about four miles from the
latter place. The command moved through the cities in col
umn, with music playing and in good review order. In pass
ing through Manchester we were very handsomely received
by General Devens, who had his division of the Twenty-fourth
Army Corps paraded at open order on the left of the line of
march and saluted each brigade as it passed. On the morning
of the twelfth we again took up the line of march for Alex
andria, Va., and renewed orders having been received to make
the march easy, and not, except in cases of absolute necessity,
to exceed fifteen miles per day, it was conducted with much
greater comfort to the men on the entire route to this place.
On the nineteenth of May we reached our camp near Alex
andria (Cloud's Mills), and went into camp. Preparations were
at once begun for the grand review by the President, ordered
for the twenty-fourth instant, and much difficulty was ex
perienced in getting needed supplies. The troops were at last
pretty well equipped for the review. On the twenty-fourth,
at sunrise, the brigade broke camp, loading knapsacks and
haversacks into the train, and marched toward Long Bridge,
where we rested until the way was clear for crossing. Cross
ing the bridge the command was formed in column of com
panies and moved in review up Pennsylvania avenue, and
passed the President's stand near the White House.
The review was creditable to the troops and gave to those
who had never seen Sherman's army a new and unexpected

28o THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
view. They had looked for an army of "Bummers," wHd, un
disciplined, and unskilled in the precision of military move
ments. They saw, instead, an army that could be "Bummers"
par excellence when necessity required, and when that neces
sity was removed, could at once exhibit a subordination and
a precision in drill and movement excelled by no other army.
After passing in review this brigade was marched to its
present camp, about four miles from Washington, on the
Bladensburg road, and about one mile from the latter place.
I have to report the loss of one officer and one enlisted man
on the march from Richmond. On the morning of May
eighteenth, when the brigade left its camp on the battle ground
of ChanceHorsvHle, Lieutenant Snyder, Adjutant One Hun
dred and Second Illinois Volunteers, accompanied by one
mounted orderly, left the column by permission of Colonel
Smith, commanding his regiment, to look over the battle
ground and rejoin the column before crossing the Rappa
hannock. Since that time nothing has been heard from them,
and it is feared that they were killed by some guerriHas. He
was a good officer and had rendered faithful service to his
country. In making this closing report of my brigade I beg leave to
suggest that the services of some of my regimental and staff
officers deserve recognition at the hands of the War Depart
ment, and I therefore recommend and respectfully urge upon
the Department that the following named officers receive a bre
vet one grade above their present rank: First, Lieut.-Col. A.
W. Doane, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; second,
Lieut.-Col. E. F. Dutton, One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Vol
unteer Infantry; third, Lieut.-Col. Samuel MerrHl, Seventieth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry ; fourth, Capt. Samuel T. Walkley,
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteers, Acting
Assistant Inspector-General; fifth. First Lieut. Alfred H.
Trego, One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteers, Acting
Assistant Adjutant-General; sixth. First Lieut. George W.
GHcrist, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth IHinois Volunteers,

RICHMOND, WASHINGTON, AND HOME 281
Aide de camp ; seventh, Maj. A. W. Reagan, surgeon, Seven
tieth Indiana Volunteers, Brigade Surgeon.
BENJA. HARRISON,
Bvt. Brig.-Gen. U. S. Vols.,
Comdg. 1st Brig., 3d Div., 20th Corps,
Captain Crawford,
Actg. Asst. Adjutant-General,
Third Division, Twentieth Corps.

CHAPTER XVI.
AGAIN ON THE MARCH
Twenty-three years had passed away since the events
narrated in the last chapter. The members of the Seven
tieth Indiana had scattered far and wide, and were quietly
exemplifying in their homes the virtues manifested in the
army. Many a man bore with him as a refic of hardship
and exposure the disease that made a useful existence aH
too brief. Esteem deepened into love among the survivors
as the days glided by, and as comrade after comrade an
swered no longer to the annual roll caH. Those who
remained heard with joy that their former Colonel, Benja
min Harrison, had been nominated as a candidate for the
Presidency, and such as had opportunity — three hundred
and seventy-seven in all — signed the following tribute and
pubHshed it to the world:
The survivors of the Seventieth Regiment, Indiana
Volunteers, congratulate themselves because their old com
mander, Gen. Benjamin Harrison, has been nominated as
candidate for President of the United States.
They recollect the manly characteristics manifested by
him in the camp, and the high soldiery qualities that
adorned his character in the field.
They recall his untiring efforts in perfecting his men in
military tactics; his vigilance in the midst of danger; his
courage in battle; his quickness to see the design of the
enemy, and his swiftness to strike and crush him.
They recoHect his care for the health, the food and the
282

AG.A.IN ON THE MARCH 283
clothing of those who composed his command, and the
resolute manner in which he kept the men from being im
posed upon by shirkers of duty or arbitrary officers.
They remember his kindness to the sick, and his habit
of sharing the discomforts of army life with those in the
ranks. They can never forget his carrying the rifle and knap
sack of the exhausted soldier, and his tramping through
the mud while a footsore comrade occupied his place in
the saddle.
When men have sacrificed home, have journeyed wearily
together through intolerable heat, bitter cold or the pelt
ing tempest, have shared rough food and the cravings of
hunger, have shivered with scanty covering through nights
on damp or frozen ground, have been in constant danger
from the bullets of the enemy and the shafts of disease,
have experienced a daHy and nightly trial of courage, have
grieved together over the faHen, and joined at last in the
same glorious triumph, a friendship is formed that will
endure when partisanship and political animosities have
sunk into oblivion.
The fires of battle united us, and memories more pre
cious than life hold us as one, so that the contest of our
old commander is ours.
Every noble impulse emanating from comradeship
prompts us to follow our leader, and inspires us to call
upon veterans from our reunited country to accept a leader
ship that wiH surely guide to victory and honor.
When the political contest had resulted successfully, and
the time for the inauguration approached, a large number
of the survivors of the Seventieth Indiana, on Friday after-

284 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
noon, March first, 1889, headed by a military band, formed
into platoons near the Court House at IndianapoHs, and
marching to the Union Station, boarded a train of Pullman
cars bound for Washington. These cars had been char
tered by the members of the organization, to be occupied
by them during their absence.
By some mistake the train swept through Shelbyville,
leaving eight of the comrades, who had intended to start
from that city, standing on the platform. A telegram from
our next stopping place induced them to take the first
express and join us at Cincinnati.
While the coaches were moving at that city, prepara
tory to starting directly eastward, a locomotive came
crushing into the side of one of the sleepers, forcing it
through a two-story brick building. For a moment it
reminded one of an old-time battle; the faHing bricks, rush
ing steam, tumbHng lamps and grinding timbers, repre
senting in no feeble way the never-to-be forgotten horror
of bursting sheHs and blinding smoke. No one seemed
to be hurt seriously except a tramp, who happened to be
in the buHding, and who groaned and howled mournfully
from beneath a mound of bricks. When dug out he was
as flat as a hard tack, but a few long breaths rounded him
into shape again, and enabled him to limp off shaking his
head, first at the mountain of bricks, then at the car, and
lastly at the locomotive.
The occupants of the coach, busy with the contents of
their lunch baskets, bread and butter, cold ham and boiled
eggs, bologna and sponge cake, for an instant forgot sup
per, and would have sold their chances for life very cheap;
but a moment after, soldier-like, were mad as hornets be-

AGAIN ON THE MARCH 285
cause the floor was carpeted with food, and because the
coffee just purchased was trickling down their legs instead
of their throats.
A few hours' detention was the result of this adventure ;
then with a new sleeper, and our reinforcement from
Shelbyville, we prepared our beds for the night and took
up our journey toward the Potomac. Each car boasted
of having the finest choir of snorers, and the rivalry was
so great, that even those who claimed heretofore to have
slept noiselessly, contracted the habit and joined with the
rest in making the mountains and valleys ring with the
music. There was great fun the next day in going through the
train and seeing how many faces could be recognized, in
talking of old times and recent times, of easy and even of
hard times, for it was found that the army characteristic
of laughing at misfortune had settled with many into a life
long habit.
It was interesting to hear a discussion as to whether
Sherman showed wisdom in decHning the office of Presi
dent. All agreed that he was right in asserting that the
Virginian Thomas was a greater general than the Virginian
Lee; for leaving loyalty out of consideration, the former
was always victorious in each of the States in which he
fought, no matter who chose the battle ground, while the
latter could not gain a victory outside of his own State or
on any ground except that of his own choosing. Grant's
last great battle, in which he held death at arm's length
until he had completed the book that was to Hft his family
out of the ruin a financial crash had wrought, was spoken
of in low tones but admiring terms.

286 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Personal histories were even more entertaining. A few
when the war closed had found friends, occupations and
success awaiting them, and their lives had been in con
tinuous sunshine. One said, "Everybody was busy, but
there seemed to be no place for me; so after scuffling
around for months trying to find something to do, I moved
on." Another, who was a little cynical, "Yes, we were
greeted by those who sympathized with the North as long-
lost brothers, then forgotten, either because they were
absorbed in their own business, or because they thought a
soldier, of course, would vote right, and it was pretty
tough getting along at first." Another said, "We hap
pened to come home to a neighborhood where those who
had neither gone into the service nor asked anyone else
to go, cast sullen looks on us, and would not give employ
ment unless we would identify ourselves with their political
party, so we struck out for Kansas." Another, "Yes, I'm
in Kansas, and the people have been mighty good to me,
for they have given me one of the best offices in the county,
so I have aH the money I want." Another, "About a quar
ter of the men who went from, or rather came back to our
county, stuck to their old homes and are making a living,
and at least are happy here." Then with a queer kind of
a smHe he added, "One of our number has been quite for
tunate. He was sent forward as a recruit while we were
at NashviHe. He never performed a day's work whHe with
the regiment, but went into the hospital immediately, hav
ing contracted a loathsome disease whHe not in the line of
duty, and was discharged for disabHity. After the war
he applied for and drew a pension. On further investiga
tion his name was dropped from the pension rolls by the

AGAIN ON THE MARCH 287
Department. During a presidential campaign, when pro
cessions were formed and veterans were marching, he
became active in securing old soldiers for the column that
needed them most; so a United States Senator from
Indiana introduced a special biH, giving him for the balance
of his days, seventy-two dollars a month, while some of his
needy comrades, who had served to the close of the war,
went pensionless."
It was a couple of hours after dark on Saturday when
we arrived at the Capital, and many of the men scattered
through the city to see what changes had been made since
they took part in the grand review at the close of the war.
Monday at half-past ten the battalion marched to the
White House, and the four companies, into which it was
divided, were assigned to escort duty, two moving in front
and two in rear of the presidential party. Although the
rain fell continuously, yet Pennsylvania avenue was lined
with cheering spectators. At the east portico of the Cap
itol, the escort halted so as to see the inauguration cere
monies, while the troops belonging to the regular army
moved on. The crowd was immense, and the crush was
almost unendurable, so that every one was glad when the
exercises were over and the grand parade began, on the
return to the President's mansion. Here the escort entered
the Government grounds, and those who were not too
uncomfortable from the six hours' tramp through the rain,
ascended the reviewing stand and watched the passing
thousands. The following afternoon the regiment, preceded by the
Topeka band, marched through the city and was cordially
greeted in their new home by the President and his family.

288 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
In that delightful hour many a poor feHow felt that he
was already in Paradise, as he wandered with freedom
through elegant chambers and fragrant conservatories of
tropical plants.
All Washington had a new sensation when it was seen
that exalted station only increased the affectionate care
of our old leader for his old command. Before we separ
ated the President stood on the steps of the Executive
Mansion in the midst of his men, while two photographers
exercised their skill in picture making. The fact is the
photographers were so persistent in following us around
and taking our likenesses that it has been hard for some
of us grizzly old veterans to keep from imagining our
selves just a little better looking than ordinary mortals.
The next move was to the Treasury, where we were
received, at his request, by General Rosecrans, our army
commander in 1862. He must have remembered his ex
perience with us in cornfields and turnip patches, for he
faHed to show us the "surplus" about which there had
been so much talk. Had he done so, we certainly would
have solved the problem of its reduction.
After visiting the Art GaHery, Museum, Smithsonian
Institute, Capitol, Washington's Monument and many
other public buHdings, the Wednesday morning ten o'clock
train bore us homeward. The singing of John Brown at
Harper's Ferry, the snow storm as we swept through the
mountains, the rushing streams, swollen into torrents by
the rains, the fun and frolic of the gray-haired, wrinkled-
faced comrades who were boys again after a quarter of a
century's separation, have become a delightful life-long
possession of the memory. A six days' reunion, all the

AGAIN ON THE MARCH 289
participants from the same regiment, whose homes are in
almost all the States from Massachusetts to California, was
an event never witnessed before, the exquisite pleasure of
which cannot be described and wiH never be forgotten.
The wondrous satisfaction beaming on every counte
nance as the men stroHed about the National Capital,
noticing the marvelous changes made by the years, sprang
from the consciousness that they had had a part in saving
this beautiful city from destruction, and, better stiH, in
rescuing the Nation from the ruin toward which it was
rushing. The joy of the reunion was strangely solemn.
Gladness and sadness, laughter and grief were intermingled.
As story after story was told, manifesting self-denial or
heroism, came the inquiry, "Where is he now?" and the
oft recurring response, "Gone." He who belongs to a
Last Man Society, the members of which have helped to
make history, cannot escape profound emotions, and ought
to move with unaffected dignity. His thoughts deal not
alone with the far-away past, but also with the far-away
future. In concluding this narrative a selection from sentiments
adopted at the reunion is appropriate.
The cause of liberty and union for which we fought, as
the cause of God and man, can never be a lost cause.
Between right and wrong, and between the results of
right and wrong, is a gulf wide and deep, and impassable
as the gulf that parts Heaven and Hell.
The bond uniting comrades in camp and field was not
broken when the volunteer was discharged, but is and wiH
ever be an indissoluble tie of sacred friendship.

290 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
The dead are not forgotten, silent they lie, but their
voiceless lips are eloquent for right, and their orphans
•should be the beloved and honored chHdren of the Re
public. Under the inspiration of this reunion, and of the tender
memories of fellow-soldiers, who in their death gave the
fuH measure of patriotic devotion, we consecrate ourselves
anew to the service of our country and of humanity.

THE FLAGS OF THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA

=ROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN JUST AFTER THE
CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH

THE REGIMENTAL ROSTER.

FIELD AND STAFF.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Colonel. Indianapolis. Date of commission, Aug. 7, 1862 ;
date of muster, Aug. 7, 1862 ; brevetted Brigadier General
Jan. 23, 1865 ; mustered out with regiment.
JAMES BURGESS.
Lieutenant-Colonel. Danville. Date of commission, Aug.
9, 1862 ; date of muster, Aug. 12, 1862 ; promoted Colonel
124th Regiment.
SAMUEL MERRILL.
Lieutenant-Colonel. Indianapolis. Date of commission,
March i, 1864; date of muster, April 20, 1864; mustered
out with regiment.
SAMUEL C. VANCE.
Major. Indianapolis. Date of commission, Aug. 9, 1862 ;
date of muster, Aug. 12, 1862; resigned April 10, 1863;
re-entered service as Colonel I32d Regiment.
SAMUEL MERRILL.
Major. Indianapolis. Date of commission, April 1 1 , 1863 ;
date of muster, April 25, 1863; promoted Lieutenant-
Colonel.
ZACHARIAH S. RAGAN.
Major. Clayton. Date of commission, March i, 1864; date
of muster, April 20, 1864; wounded at Newhope Church
June 15, 1864; mustered out with regiment.
JAMES L. MITCHELL.
Adjutant. Indianapolis. Date of commission, July 16,
1862; date of muster, July 16, 1862; mustered out with
regiment.
GEORGE W. ALLISON.
Quartermaster. Franklin. Date of commission, July 18,
391

292' THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
1862 ; date of muster, July 18, 1862 ; resigned Jan. 8, 1865.
JOHN L. KETCHAM, JR.
Quartermaster. Indianapolis. Date of commission, Feb.
14, 1865 ; date of muster, March 27, 1865 ; mustered out
with regiment.
ARCHIBALD C. ALLEN.
Chaplain. Indianapolis. Date of commission, Aug. 12,
1862; date of muster, Aug. 12, 1862; mustered out with
regiment.
AMOS W. REAGAN.
Surgeon. Mooresville. Date of commission, Aug. 11,
1862; date of muster, Aug. 11, 1862; mustered out with
regiment.
AMOS W. REAGAN.
Assistant Surgeon. Mooresville. Date of commission,
July 30, 1862 ; promoted Surgeon.
WILLIAM A. WEBB.
Assistant Surgeon. Franklin. Date of commission, Aug.
II, 1862; date of muster, Aug. 12, 1862; resigned March
II, 1863.
WILLIAM R. SMITH.
Assistant Surgeon. Indianapolis. Date of commission,
Aug. 12, 1862; date of muster, Aug. 12, 1862; resigned
Nov. 8, 1862.
JOHN M. WHITE.
Assistant Surgeon. Southport. Date of commission, Dec.
6, 1862; date of muster, Dec. 16, 1862; died Aug. 31, 1863,
of disease.
LEROY H. KENNEDY.
Assistant Surgeon. Danville. Date of commission, April
4, 1863 ; date of muster, April 18, 1863 ; resigned Sept. 4,
1863 ; cause, disability.
JENKINS A. FITZGERALD.
Assistant Surgeon. Indianapolis. Date of commission,
Oct. 17, 1863 ; date of muster, Oct. 22, 1863 ; mustered out
with regiment.
HERMAN J. WATJEN.
Assistant Surgeon. Indianapolis. Date of commission,

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

293

Jan. I, 1865; mustered out as Hospital Steward with
regiment. REGIMENTAL NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
PHILIP D. MUSGRAVE.
Sergeant Major. Indianapolis. Date of muster, Aug. 12,
1862 ; transferred to Company A Aug. 20, 1862.
WILLIAM: A. MARRS.
Quartermaster-Sergeant. Martinsville. Date of muster,
Aug. 12, 1862; mustered out with regiment.
REUBEN D. ISAACS.
Commissary Sergeant. Indianapolis. Date of muster, A-ag.
12, 1862; discharged Feb. 15, 1863; disability.
HERMAN J. WATJEN.
Hospital Steward. Indianapolis. Date of muster, Aug. 12,
1862; commissioned Assistant Surgeon Jan. i, 1865; mus
tered out with regiment.
ISAIAH LONG.
Principal Musician. Mooresville. Date of muster, Aug.
12, 1862; transferred to Company D Jan. i, 1863.
JULES A. VIQUESNEY.
Principal Musician. Danville. Date of muster, Aug. 12,
1862; transferred to Company C May i, 1864.

ROSTER OF COMPANIES.*

COMPANY A.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Captain, commissioned July 22, 1862 ; promoted Colonel.
HENRY M. SCOTT.
First Lieutenant, commissioned July 22, 1862; Captain,
commissioned Aug. 9, 1862; brevetted Major March 31,
1865 ; mustered out with regiment.
* The Author claims neither credit nor responsibility for the
accuracy of the appended roster.
In order to have the list of names and statements as correct as
possible, each roll has been prepared by a member of the company.

294 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
MARTIN L. OHR.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 9, 1862 ; mustered out
Nov. 4, 1864.
BETHUEL CLARK.
First Lieutenant, commissioned March 29, 1864; July i,
1864; from 27th Regiment; mustered out with regiment.
JAMES A. WALLACE.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned July 22, 1862; Aug.
10, 1862 ; mustered out March 22, 1864; promoted Quarter
master loth Cavalry.
JOHN W. KILGOUER.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Jan. 17, 1865; Feb.
10, 1865 ; mustered out with regiment.
JOHN W. KILGOUER.
First Sergeant July 15, 1862; Second Lieutenant Jan. 17,
1865; Feb. 10, 1865, mustered out with regiment,
JOHN JUDGE.
Sergeant July 16, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as First
Sergeant.
GEORGE M. Mcknight.
Sergeant July 17, 1862; discharged Dec. 6, 1864; disability.
ANDREW A. BUCHANAN.
Sergeant July 19, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALONZO P. BABBITT.
Sergeant July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM R. SMITH.
Corporal July 14, 1862 ; promoted Assistant Surgeon Aug.
12, 1862.
ROBERT A. TAYLOR.
Corporal July 18, 1862; discharged May 20, 1863; dis
ability.
GEORGE W. LUCKY.
Corporal July 15, 1862 ; discharged Nov. 9, 1862 ; disabiHty.
HERMAN F. ROPKEY.
Jorporal July 19, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Ser
geant.
GEORGE W. CLARK.
Corporal July 17, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

295

HENRY WESLING.
Corporal July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Ser
geant.
GEORGE W. COOK
Corporal July 19, 1862; discharged AprH 10, 1865; wounds.
SIMON SNYDER.
Corporal July 14, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL H. LAUBACK.
Musician July 16, 1862; kHled at Resaca May 15, 1864.
HERMAN J. WATJEN.
Musician Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Hos
pital Steward.
JACKSON SUMMERS.
Wagoner Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
PRIVATES.
ELIJAH P. ACKER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ISAAC BAKER.
Julv 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY BAKER.
July 17, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ANTON BEUKA.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. BURRIS.
July 19, 1862; discharged Dec. 6, 1864; wounds.
DANIEL F. BURNS.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOHN L. BROWN.
July 21, 1862 ; discharged March 3, 1865 ; wounds.
JEROME A. BABBITT.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
ISAAC J. BALES.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY CRUSE.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

296 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
FRANCIS CECIL.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CLARK CONVERSE.
July 14, 1862; died Aug. 18, 1864; wounds.
LEMUEL L. CARTER.
July 15, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
WILLIAM W. CAIN.
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN CUSTER.
July 18, 1862; died at Vining's Station, Ga., Aug. 16, 1864
ALFRED CHANDLER.
July 21, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps July 31, 1864
JOSIAH S. CLARK.
July 21, 1862; discharged Jan. 20, 1863; disabHity.
EDWARD COX.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALLEN CAYLOR.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged Jan. 27, 1863; disability.
ANDREW DUNWAY.
July 17, 1862 ; kiHed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
PERRY A. DEMANGET.
July 19, 1862; kHled at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
WILLIAM DOUGLASS.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out May 10, 1865.
JOHN ENGLAND.
July 19, 1862; discharged Jan. 20, 1863; disabHity.
EDMOND P. ERVIN.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILKERSON FARLEY.
July 25, 1862; discharged Dec. 13, 1862; disability.
JAMES FURGIS.
July 15, 1862; discharged Jan. 20, 1865; wounds.
NATHANIEL FOLLETT.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
RODNEY R. GIBBONS.
Aug. II, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 6, 1864; wounds.
SAMUEL B. GARDNER.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 297
FRANK HALL.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH F. HARBERT.
July 17, 1862; died at NashviHe, Tenn., May 17, 1864.
JOHN W. HACKLEMAN.
July 19, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps July 31, 1864.
NOBLE HUNTINGTON.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant
JOHN HARRISON.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM HOBBS.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HOWARD HUDNUT.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; killed at Russellville, Ky., Sept. 30, 1862.
OLIVER L. JONES.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN R. JENKINS.
July IS, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
DALA D. KRATZER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; deserted Aug. 10, 1862.
PHILIP A. LORRY.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN LAW.
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALEXANDER MOORE,
July 22, 1862 ; died at Resaca, Ga., June 5, 1864; wounds.
MOSES MUSGRAVE.
July 21, 1862; discharged AprH 23, 1863; disability.
PHILIP D. MUSGRAVE.
July 15, 1862; promoted Surgeon U. S. Colored Troops
Oct. 30, 1863.
HENRY MAY.
July 19, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
OLIVER MARSHALL.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; discharged April 7, 1863 ; disabHity.
WILLIAM MUSTON.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865,

298 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
WILLIAM McELROY.
July 21, 1862; transferred to V. R. C. Jan. 10, 1865.
JOSEPH F. McFARLAND.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH S. McCLAREND.
July 23, 1862; deserted Oct. 7, 1862.
SAMUEL L. NULL.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEBBENS T. NOSSAMAN.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. ORR.
July 15, 1862; promoted Lieutenant U. S. Colored Troops
March 2, 1864.
ANDREW A. PECK.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SANDFORD PEDIGO.
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
FRANCIS PURSEL.
July 21, 1862; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., June 25, 1864;
wounds.
CHARLES PURSEL.
July 19, 1862 ; died at Louisville, Ky., June 30, 1864,
WILLIAM PURCELL.
July 21, 1862; discharged Nov. 8, 1862; disabHity.
ROBERT H. PATTERSON.
Aug. 5, 1862; discharged March 13, 1863; disability.
THOMAS P. RICHARDSON.
July 15, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FREDERICK RODEBECK.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DUDLEY ROBERTS.
July 21, 1862 ; discharged May 29, 1863 ; disability.
NATHANIEL T. ROYER.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. SMITH.
July 21, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 26, 1862.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 299
JOHN H. SEIVER.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant
Major.
JAMES SHANK.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 4, 1862.
WILLIAM H. H, SHANK.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JONATHAN P, SUNDERLAND.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DANIEL SPIEGEL.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DAVID P, THOMAS.
July 19, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., April 23, 1863.
GARDNER P, THORNTON.
July 21, 1862; promoted Lieutenant U. S. Colored Troops
Dec. 31, 1863.
ALEXANDER THUER.
July 21, 1862; discharged June 22, 1864.
GEORGE W. WELLS.
July 15, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 2, 1863.
JOHN WILLIAMS.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY WIESE.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES NELSON WILSON.
July 19, 1862; kiHed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
ELBRIDGE C. WATSON.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE C, WALLACE.
July 21, 1862; discharged Dec. 30, 1864, by order War
Department; promoted Sergeant Major.
WILLIAM J. WHEATLEY.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 30, 1862 ; disability.
WESLEY WILLIAMSON.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ASA WILLIAMSON.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

300 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
SIMEON T. YANCEY.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
RECRUITS.
ROBERT BARNHILL.
March 8, 1862 ; mustered out April 6, 1865.
ISAAC BROWN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM J. BLUE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ELISHA BAILEY.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES BAKER.
Dec. 15, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DAVID BYERLY.
Jan. 6, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM S. BROWN.
March 15, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865 ;
ANDREW J. CHASE.
Dec. 12, 1863; discharged Oct. 21, 1864; disability.
JOHN H. CAYWOOD.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ROBERT W. COFFEE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN T. COFFEE.
March 27, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
MARSHALL GARDNER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
EMERY HOWELL.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
NOAH P. HILLMAN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
PETER D. JACOBS.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES J. LANE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 301
DANIEL M. LARIMORE.
March 31, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 186-;
GEORGE PATE.
March 5, 1862; mustered out AprH 6, 1865.
GEORGE PROSSER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
AZRA M. ROBERTS.
Jan. 4, 1864; discharged March 18, 1865; wounds.
ZACHARIAH RUDE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MELVIN SANDBURN.
March 19, 1862 ; mustered out April 6, 1865.
ADAM SNAPP.
April 2, 1862 ; mustered out April 6, 1865.
JOHN M. STEWARD.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SIMON A. STRODER.
Jan. 6, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. THOMPSON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES WOODS.
March 15, 1862; mustered out April 6, 1865.
WILLIAM WEAKLEY.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ANDREW J. WEAKLEY.
March 27, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
COMPANY B.
THOMAS A. McFARLAND.
Captain Aug. i, 1862; resigned Aug. 31, 1862.
DAVID F. SLEETH.
First Lieutenant Aug. i, 1862; Captain Sept. i, 1862;
resigned 1864.
EDWARD L. DAVIDSON.
Second Lieutenant July 15, 1862; First Lieutenant Sept. i,
1862; resigned Jan. 3, 1863.

302 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOHN C. NEWTON.
First Sergeant July 19, 1862; Second Lieutenant Sept. i
1862 ; First Lieutenant Jan. 4, 1863 ; Captain 1864 ; mus
tered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL B. ROBERTSON.
Sergeant July 15, 1862; First Sergeant Sept. i, 1862; Sec
ond Lieutenant Jan. 4, 1863 ; resigned August, 1864.
WELTON M. WHITCOMB.
Sergeant Aug. i, 1862; Second Sergeant Sept. i, 1862;
First Sergeant Feb. 28, 1863 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN S. MOORE.
Sergeant Aug. i, 1862; Commissary Sergeant Feb. 13,
1863 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES C. BENNETT.
Sergeant July 23, 1862; Third Sergeant Feb. 21, 1863;
First Sergeant Sept. i, 1864; Second Lieutenant Jan. 17,
1865 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
RICHARD H. THRALLS.
Corporal July 16, 1862; Fifth Sergeant Sept. i, 1862; mus
tered out June 8, 1865.
HEZEKIAH MITCHELL.
Corporal July 16, 1862 ; discharged April 6, 1863 ; disability.
ELIJAH A. POWELL.
Corporal July 17, 1862 ; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., May
24, 1864.
ELIAS P. SMITH.
Corporal July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES A. STAFFORD.
Corporal July 17, 1862; Sergeant Feb. 21, 1863; First Ser
geant 1864; Second Lieutenant 1864; First Lieutenant
1865; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES T. SPENCER.
Corporal July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as
Private.
AMOS T. PHARES.
Corporal July 26, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 16, 1864 ; disability.
ACHILLES RODGERS.
Corporal July 24, 1862 ; died July, 1864 ; wounds.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

303

WILLIAM H. DEEM.
Musician July 20, 1862; reduced to ranks Aug. 26, 1862;
deserted Jan. 21, 1863.
DAVID L. DELOE.
Musician July 20, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES R. SMITH.
Wagoner July 17, 1862; discharged Nov. 29, 1862; dis
ability.
PRIVATES.
GEORGE W. ADAMS.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 30, 1863.
CHARLES E. ADAMS.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. ADAMS.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; died at Lavergne, Tenn., June 20, 1863.
THOMAS ANDERSON.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
TERRELL ANDERSON.
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ROBERT ANGLETON.
July 17, 1862; Corporal Sept. i, 1862; mustered out June
8, 1865, as Sergeant.
HENRY AYDELOTT.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH W. AYDELOTT.
July 22, 1862 ; died at Scottsville, Ky., Nov. 27, 1862.
ABRAHAM BELLER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; deserted Oct. 2, 1862.
WILLIAM BAKER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH F. COWDEN.
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
EPHRAIM COLLINS.
July 17, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN T. COLLINS.
July 17, 1862 ; transferred to V. R. C. April 6, 1864.

304 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JAMES L. COLLINS.
July i8, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 15, 1864
FRANKLIN COLLINS.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
WILLIAM CONNER.
Aug. 4, 1862; discharged Jan. 27, 1863; disability.
HUMPHREY EOFF.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; transferred to V. R. C.
GEORGE W. EVANS.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY FARLEY.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. GUISE.
July 29, 1862 ; killed by accident July 26, 1864, Atlanta, Ga
ZACHEUS GORDON.
July 16, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 27, 1862,
JOHN W. GIBBONS.
July 29, 1862; died at Scottsville, Ky., Dec. 2, 1862.
DAVID P. GILL.
Aug. I, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
SIMPSON GOSSETT.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THORNHILL H. GWYNNE.
Aug. 2, 1862; discharged July 29, 1863; disability.
LINDSEY GERMAN.
Aug. I, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
NATHAN HALL.
Aug. I, 1862; discharged Jan. 21, 1863; disability.
JAMES HALL.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. HULSOPPLE.
July 19, 1862; discharged March 21, 1863; disability.
ALEXANDER S. HAWKINS.
Aug. 4, 1862; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
JOEL H. KEELING.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DAVID C. LINDVILLE.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

305

CHARLES M. LAZAR,
July 16, 1862 ; died at NashviHe, Tenn., Nov. 19, 1863
LEROY LEGGETT.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; promoted to Corporal ; mustered out June 8
1865, as Sergeant.
JOHN W. MILLER.
July 16, 1862; died at SaundersviHe, Tenn., Feb. 7, 1863.
WILLIAM A. MILLER.
Aug. I, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES S. MILLER.
July 24, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS B. MILLER.
July 24, 1862; died at home Aug. 11, 1862.
ROBERT H. MILLER.
Aug. I, 1862; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., July 22, 1864;
wounds.
WILLIAM S. MITCHELL.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DODRIDGE MITCHELL.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SYLVESTER McGINITY.
July 16, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 24, 1864.
ABRAHAM McMULLEN.
July 24, 1862 ; died at SaundersvHle, Tenn., Feb. 22, 1863.
THOMAS McCONNELL.
July 25, 1862; Corporal Sept. i, 1862; discharged Jan. 26,
1863 ; disability.
JAMES H. McFALL.
July 28, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 7, 1862.
CHARLES L. MARIETTA.
July 16, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM MORGAN.
July 17, 1862; discharged Dec. 13, 1862; disability.
JOHN R. MAHOLM.
Aug. 4, 1862; discharged Jan. 15, 1863.
GEORGE H. MAHOLM.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; killed on railroad Nov. 6, 1864,

306 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
NOAH O. MOORE.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865,
JOHN H. NEWTON.
July 17, 1862; died near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 12, 1864;
wounds.
WILLIAM C. PHARES.
July 26, 1862 ; Musician Aug. 26, 1862 ; mustered out June
8, 1865.
GEORGE A. PRICE.
Aug. 4, 1862; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., Aug. 29, 1864;
wounds,
HENRY C. PHILLIPS.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; discharged May 6, 1863 ; disability.
JOSEPH A. REED.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
DAVID S. RIGDON.
Aug. I, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY RAPP.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN SMITH.
July 24, 1862 ; deserted Dec. 2, 1863.
ELIJAH S. SMITH.
July 26, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CARRY H. SMITH.
Aug. I, 1862; Corporal Feb. 21, 1863; mustered out June
8, 1865.
DANIEL STEWART.
July 31, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM STORY.
July 20, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Oct. 30, 1863.
ANDREW I. STORY.
July 20, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DAVID S. SCOFIELD.
July 24, 1862 ; died at ScottsvHle, Ky., Dec. 17, 1862.
WILLIAM H. STRADER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 15, 1864.
TYRE STAFFORD.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 307
ARCHIBALD SOSBY.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
MARSHALL STODDARD.
July 26, 1862 ; died at Scottsville, Ky., Nov. 19, 1862.
ADELMAN SMITH.
July 19, 1862 ; died at Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 7, 1862.
ROBERT TONER.
Aug. I, 1862; died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 17, 1863.
CORNELIUS TUCKER.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FERDINAND TREON.
Aug. I, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
VALISON C. THOMAS.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS F. THOMPSON.
Aug. I, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JEREMIAH WHEELER.
July 19, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 23, 1862.
JOHN J. WALTON.
July 18, 1862; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 15, 1862.
MAJOR WOOD.
July 25, 1862; died at SaundersvHle, Tenn., Feb. 21, 1863.
WASHINGTON WOLTON.
Aug. I, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN WAGONER.
July 20, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
AMOS T. WILLIS.
July 20, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 7, 1862.
RECRUITS.
FRANCIS M. ANGLETON.
Dec. 25, 1863 ; died May 28, 1864, of wound received at
Resaca, Ga.
JAMES AULTE.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 2, 1865.
SYLVESTER ADAMS.
Dec. 31, 1863; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

308 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOHN F. ALBRIGHT.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
AARON ALLEN.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
WILLIAM H. BEESON.
Jan. 25, 1864; died at Cassville, Ga., June, 1864; wound.
WILLIAM A. BARNES.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
ABNER D. CROSS.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; discharged Dec. 20, 1864.
JAMES CLARK.
Dec. 23, 1863; died at Lookout Mountain Feb. 2, 1865.
CYRUS CAYLER.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HENSON L. CLARK.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
EDWARD DILL.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
EDMOND H. DUNN.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM A. DWYER.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ENOS DAVISSON.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN DAVISSON.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES DINN.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
PHILIP P. EMRICK.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. ELLETT.
Mustered out April 6, 1865.
CHARLES W. FRANK.
Dec. 31, 1863; kiHed at Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864.
ROBERT T. FOSTER.
Jan. 24, 1864; First Sergeant Jan. i, 1865; transferred to
33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 309
WILLIAM FRY.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
LOUIS GOODRICH.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; killed at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20,
1864
WILLIAM HENDRICKS.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. HALL.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN D. HINCHE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM LENOX.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM J. LEE.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MONTRAVILLE MAHAN.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to V. R. C. Jan. 10, 1865.
DANIEL MELOY.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES McKINNEY.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. McGAFFACK.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
CHARLES F. PLYMATE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SHELBY PRICE.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN PEAK,
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL POWELL.
Dec. 23, 1863; discharged Oct. 5, 1864; disability.
FRANKLIN RICHIE.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
GRANVILLE RICHIE.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

3IO THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
FREDERICK W. STAFFORD.
Jan. 6, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
NATHAN STAFFORD.
Dec. 23, 1863; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
SHELBY SEXSON.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
JESSE STUBBS.
Dec. 23, 1863 ; died at JeffersonviHe, Ind., Sept. 4, 1864,
JOHN B. VANCLEFF.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM WORDAN.
Dec. 31, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
JOHN YOUNG.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
COMPANY C.
Z. S. RAGAN.
Captain Aug. 5, 1862 ; promoted to Major.
W. C. MITCHELL.
First Lieutenant Aug. 5, 1862 ; promoted to Captain.
JEPTHA BANTA.
Second Lieutenant Aug. 5, 1862; died April 11, 1863.
JAMES M. ROGERS.
First Sergeant July 24, 1862 ; promoted to tirst Lieutenant.
JAMES I. WILLS.
Sergeant July 19, 1862 ; promoted to Second Lieutenant.
FRANKLIN J. BURCHAM.
Sergeant July 14, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FRANK H. HURON.
Sergeant July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as First
Sergeant and Color Bearer.
DAVID N. HOPWOOD.
Sergeant July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MICHAEL J. DUFFEY.
Corporal July 17, 1862; kHled near Atlanta, Ga., July 24,
1864.
JOHN M. COOK.
Corporal Aug, 4, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

311

FRANK C, FERGUSON.
Corporal July 14, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
BENJAMIN F. BOLEN.
Corporal July 17, 1862; discharged Nov. 12, 1864, on
account of wounds received at Resaca, Ga.
SAMUEL R. RICHARDSON.
Corporal July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS M. NEWBY.
Corporal July 25, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SYLVESTER S. WILLS.
Corporal July 25, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES D. COMPTON.
Corporal July 16, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
PRIVATES.
JAMES ADAMS.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALEXANDER ARCHER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; discharged Oct. 8, 1863 ; disability.
JOHN F. ASHER.
Aug. 4, 1862; transferred to V. R. C. Jan. 10, 1865.
JESSE C. BARKER.
Aug. I, 1862; discharged March 22, 1863; disability,
CHARLES H. BEDFORD.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ADAM BLUNK.
July 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 20, 1863; disabifity.
GEORGE BREWER.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MILES BRAY.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 28, 1863 ; disabHity.
LOT T. BRAY.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JACOB J. BRINGLE.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MARTIN L. BROWN.
July 21, 1862; died at Gallatin, Tenn., AprH 11, 1863.

312 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
SMITH G. BURCHAM.
July 28, 1862 ; died at Scottsville, Ky., Nov. 19, 1862.
JAMES BUCHANAN.
July 25, 1862; discharged Dec. 8, 1862; disabHity.
ALFRED W. CARTER.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JESSE B. CARTER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; died at Saundersville, Tenn., Feb. 6, 1863.
SAMUEL W. CAREY.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged Dec. 3, 1862; disability.
MOSES L. CRAWFORD.
July 28, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Headquarter
Teamster.
HENRY H. CRAWFORD.
July 24, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CLARKSON DOAN.
Aug. 7, 1862; discharged Jan. 27, 1863, on account of
wounds.
RISDON C. DINWIDDIE.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY DUNCAN.
Aug. 8, 1862; discharged Dec. 9, 1862; disability.
HEZEKIAH DUFFEY.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; discharged March 17, 1863 ; disabHity,
ROBERT G. ELLIS.
Aug. II, 1862; transferred to V. R. C. AprH 30, 1864,
WILLIAM FAULKNER.
July 25, 1862; discharged Dec. 4, 1862; disabHity.
REUBEN C. FRANKLIN.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEWIS C. FRANKLIN.
July 25, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Feb. 24, 1863.
ALFRED R. GLOVER.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM P. GUYNN.
July 14, 1862; kiHed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
RICHARD F. HARPER.
Aug. 8, 1862; discharged Oct. 31, 1862; disability.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 313
LOT HADLEY.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865,
TILGHMAN S. HARLIN.
July 24, 1862 ; died July 23, 1864, from wounds received at
Peach Tree Creek.
THOMAS HANNAH.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN HAMMOND.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant,
SPENCER HIATT.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HUGH HIGGINS.
July 24, 1862; deserted Aug. 13, 1862.
JOHN D. HOPKINS.
Aug. 2, 1862; deserted Nov. 18, 1862.
DANIEL IRICK.
Aug. II, 1862; transferred to V. R. C. July 20, 1864.
WILLIAM IRICK.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged AprH 15, 1863; disabHity.
REUBEN R. ISAACS.
Aug. 9, 1862; discharged Feb. 15, 1863; disability; Com
missary Sergeant.
WILLIAM JACKSON.
Aug. II, 1862; died at ScottsvHle, Ky., Nov. 24, 1862.
HARDIN JACKSON.
Aug. II, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SILAS KENDALL.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 22, 1863 ; disability,
HENRY KERSCH.
July 28, 1862 ; killed near Golgotha, Ga., June 16, 1864,
THOMAS B. KINNAN.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 29, 1863 ; disability.
JOHN W. KNIGHTON.
July 22, 1862; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864,
JOSHUA LEACH.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865,

314 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOB LEDBETTER.
July i8, 1862 ; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
PETER O. LOOKEBILL.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES R. MARTIN.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. MARTIN.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES H. MATTHEWS.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN N. MATTHEWS.
July 22, 1862; discharged Jan. 27, 1863; disability.
JOHN W. MEDSKER.
July 28, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
GEORGE W. MILLER.
July 25, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ROBERT F. NEWBY.
July 25, 1862; discharged Dec. 14, 1862; disability.
WILLIAM C. NEWBY.
Dec. 22, 1863 ; died at Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 1864.
JAMES H. OSBORN.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
NICHOLAS OSBORN.
Aug. 4, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MONTERVILLE PARSONS.
July 18, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY PHIPPS.
July 25, 1862 ; discharged July 29, 1863 ; accidental wounds.
ALBERT H. PITTS.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 29, 1862.
GEORGE W. POTTS.
Aug. 6, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES PRATT.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN PURKYPILE.
Aug. II, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. REITZEL.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 315
ADAM REITZEL.
July 28, 1862; discharged May 13, 1863; wounds.
JEREMIAH RICHARDSON.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; discharged Nov. 29, 1862 ; disability.
JOHN A. ROBERTS.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES S. ROBERTS.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged Feb. 22, 1863; disability.
ROBERT E. RAGAN.
Aug. 10, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM SHARPE.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
YOUNG W. SHORT.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM B. SHORT.
Aug. II, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865,
STEPHEN SCOTT.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. G. SHACKLEFORD
July 17, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ZIMRI TANZY.
July 28, 1862; discharged Oct. 31, 1862; disability,
JAMES A. THOMPSON.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES A. TUMEY.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JULES VIQUESNEY.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL WADDLE.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES M. WILLS.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
NATHAN C. WILLIAMS.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN W. WOOD.
July 26, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

3l6 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
FREDERICK ZOLLER.
Aug. 3, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
VETERANS OF THE 27TH INDIANA, AND RE
CRUITS,
WILLIAM ARFORD,
July 15, 1862; mustered out April 8, 1865.
THOMAS ANDERSON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana.
ENOCH M. BREWSTER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana.
HARVEY N. CARROLL.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES COMBS.
March 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE M. CRITCHLOW.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
WM. A. CALLAHAN.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM COX.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JONAS DAVIS.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865,
JAS. P. P. DENTON.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; discharged Jan. 10, 1865 ; disability.
RUSSELL DAVIS.
July 15, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN DEARMAN.
March 10, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEVI F. FAITH.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM N. FLINN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865,
HENRY GHRAMM.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. GORR.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 317
JOHN E. HAYES.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JAMES F. HERENDEN.
March 31, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
ANDREW KELLER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
MICHAEL M. KELLER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH D. LAUGHLIN.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HARRISON LEE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; discharged April 14, 1865 ; disabHity.
JOHN MURRATTA.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
PETER RAGLE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
SANFORD H. SHIVELY.
Aug. 14, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 10, 1865 ; disability.
ELIJAH WILKINSON.
Sept. 12, 1861; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
ANDREW J. WILLIAMS.
Sept. 12, 1 861; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM W. WARNER.
Sept. 12, 1861 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
DANIEL B. WATTS.
March 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL J. WALN.
Sept. 12, 1861 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
COMPANY D.
BARCLAY R. JOHNSON.
Captain, Aug. 2, 1862 ; resigned April 20, 1863.
WM. E. TANSEY.
First Lieutenant; promoted Captain April 20, 1863;
wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
SAMUEL K. HARRYMAN.
Second Lieutenant; promoted First Lieutenant April 20,
1863.

3l8 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
WILLIAM M'CRACKEN.
Promoted to Sergeant; Ordorly Sergeant; Second Lieu
tenant April 21, 1863.
EZRA OLLEMAN.
First Sergeant ; discharged Jan. 23, 1863.
DANIEL DEAL.
First Duty Sergeant; wounded May 15, 1864, at Resaca.
THOMAS D. HUBBARD.
Sergeant; wounded June 15, 1864, at New Hope Church.
CALVIN JOHNSON.
Sergeant ; died March 9, 1863, at Gallatin, Tenn.
MOSES B. PIKE.
Sergeant.
JAMES C. HENDRICKS.
Transferred to Drummer Boy.
BENJAMIN F. BALLARD.
Corporal ; died March 13, 1863, at Gallatin, Ga,
CORNELUS HILL,
Corporal.
JOHN PIKE,
Corporal.
HENRY C. EATON.
Corporal.
JESSE F. SNOW.
Corporal.
MILTON CARTER.
Corporal ; promoted Sergeant ; discharged Jan. 20, 1864.
JOHN T. HUBBARD.
Corporal ; promoted Sergeant.
ISAIAH LONG.
Musician.
THOMAS R. HORNADAY.
Musician ; promoted to ranks by request,
OTTO RENCH.
Teamster,

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 319
PRIVATES.
JOHN ADAMS.
Discharged November 6, 1863.
NEWTON ALLEN.
ENOS ALLEN.
JAMES M. BROWN.
JESSE BREWER.
SAMUEL BALLENTINE.
Died June 22, 1864, Nashville, Tenn.
DAVID M. BRAY.
JACOB M. BRAY.
JOHN M. CALLAHAN.
WILLIAM S. CANNATSEY.
NEVIOUS B. CHAMNESS.
Wounded, Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
THOMAS C. CLAPP.
GRANVIL COSTIN.
MATHIAS A. COSTIN.
Promoted to Corporal ; promoted to Sergeant.
GEORGE W. CRAYTON.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga.
HENRY W. COSTIN.
Died Feb. 22, 1863, at Gallatin, Tenn,
WILLIAM H. COSTIN.
GEORGE COPELAND.
IRA R. CRAVEN.
Promoted Corporal.
THOMAS J. DOAN.
Discharged Dec. 10, 1863.
WILLIAM P. EASTER.
JOSEPH A. EASTER.
Wounded May 15, 1864, at Resaca, Ga.
GEORGE W. EASTER.
Discharged Feb. 6, 1863.
ELI ELLMORE.
Discharged Dec. 6, 1863.
WILLIAM J. EDWARDS.

320 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JESSE ELLMORE.
DAVID FANSLER.
PETER FARMER.
Wounded May 15, 1864, at Resaca, and discharged.
JACOB FARMER.
Wounded May 14, 1864, at Resaca; died June 9, 1864.
DAVID FUGATE.
Wounded May 15, 1864, at Resaca; died May 16, 1864.
URIAH H. FARR.
VARDAMAN FLETCHER.
Wounded May 15, 1864, at Resaca.
JOSEPH GREGORY,
Transferred Pioneer Corps.
ALONZO B. GREESON.
Wounded May 15, 1864; died May 2^, 1864,
ALFRED GREESON.
Discharged July 27, 1864.
GEORGE W. HARPER.
JOHN V. HOWELL.
ISAAC A. JOHNSON.
JAMES JULIAN.
Discharged May 6, 1863.
ANDREW JORDAN.
Died March 21, 1863.
ROBERT JOHNSON.
Wounded July 20, 1864 ; discharged 1864,
ISAAC KERSEY.
Discharged Nov. 21, 1862.
MATTHEW KIRKENDOLL,
WILLIAM A. LAKE.
JOHN E. LAKE.
Promoted Corporal.
WILLIAM C. LAKE.
ALONZO LEWALLEN.
Discharged March 3, 1863.
DANIEL LOCKWOOD.
Died June 24, 1864,

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 32 1
FRANCIS M. LEACH.
Deserted Nov. 9, 1862.
JAMES LANE.
MARTIN MASON.
SYLVESTER MOON.
Discharged June 24, 1863.
MILO H. MOON.
Promoted Corporal.
ELI S. MYRICK.
Discharged March 3, 1863.
WILLIAM R. M'CLELLAN.
JAMES M'CRAKEN.
Promoted to Corporal; wounded May 15, 1864,
LEONIDAS OBENSHAIN.
Promoted to Corporal ; promoted to Sergeant,
WILLIAM C. RHEA.
MERIDETH RUSH.
Discharged Jan. 24, 1863.
JOSEPH W. REAGAN.
ABSALOM ROSS.
WILLIAM J. ROLAND.
ELIAS M. RUSHTON.
JAMES SIMPSON.
WILLIAM A. SPOON.
JAMES SPOON.
JAMES SMITH.
GEORGE W. THORNTON.
DANIEL TANSEY.
Discharged Feb. 11, 1863.
GEORGE W. THOMPSON,
PETER VOGUS.
RUFUS H. WARD.
Promoted Corporal.
JOHN A. WARD.
Promoted Corporal.
WILLIAM W. WILHITE.
Wounded May 14, 1864, at Resaca,

322 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
BARTON WILSON.
Discharged Feb. 28, 1863.
LEVI WILLIAMS.
Discharged May 23, 1865.
PETER WHITE.
Died Jan. 21, 1863, at Bowling Green, Ky,
CALVIN WARD.
Wounded May 15, 1864; died May 23, 1864,
JOHN WILSON.
JAMES R. WIDDOWS.
Wounded May 14, 1864. RECRUITS,
GREGORY ALLEN.
JOHN S. ALBRIGHT.
WILLIAM E. CRAVEN.
LEANDER DEWEESE.
ELZA DEWEESE.
WILLIAM T. DONE.
GEORGE FREET.
CLARK GRAVE.
ALVIN S. GRAVE.
Wounded Mav 15, 1864, at Resaca.
OWEN C. HANCOCK.
MILO E. HARVEY.
THOMAS N. HINSON.
SAMUEL INGLE.
LEVI LANE.
ELIAS E. LANE.
JAMES M'CALL.
ELI PRAY.
JOHN H. POE.
Died of wounds Aug. 21, 1864.
ISAAC POE.
Died at Kingston, Ga.
JOHN D. TINCHER.
BARCLEY E. TANSEY.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 323
ISAIAH H. TROGDEN,
CLAYTON TOWNSEND, COMPANY E.
WILLIAM M, MEREDITH,
Captain, commissioned Aug. 6, 1862; Aug. 6, 1862; re
signed Aug. 12, 1864.
PETER FESLER.
Captain, commissioned Feb. 13, 1864; Sept. i, 1864; from
27th Regiment ; mustered out with Regiment.
CHARLES H. COX.
Captain, commissioned Aug. 13, 1864; not mustered.
HIRAM H. HAND.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 6, 1862 ; Aug. 6, 1862 ;
resigned Nov. 9, 1862.
COLUMBUS V. GRAY.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Nov. 10, 1862; March i,
1863 ; resigned June 16, 1863.
EDWARD B. COLESTOCK.
First Lieutenant, commissioned June 17, 1863; July i,
1863 ; died May 30, 1864, of wounds received at Resaca.
CHARLES H. COX.
First Lieutenant, commissioned July i, 1864; Sept. i, 1864;
mustered out with Regiment.
COLUMBUS V. GRAY.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 6, 1862; Aug. 6,
1862 ; promoted to First Lieutenant.
EDWARD B. COLESTOCK.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Nov. 10, 1862; Dec. 15,
1862 ; promoted to First Lieutenant.
CHARLES H. COX.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned June 17, 1863; July i,
1863; promoted to First Lieutenant.
ALLAN F. SCHLEY.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 13, 1864; Feb. 10,
1865 ; mustered out with Regiment.

324 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
EDWARD B. COLESTOCK.
First Sergeant July 15, 1862; promoted Second Lieutenant.
SAMUEL LAING.
Sergeant July 16, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as
private.
WILLIAM BODENHAMER.
Sergeant July 16, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. GRIGGS.
Sergeant July 21, 1862; died at Edgefield Junction, Tenn,,
Dec. 21, 1862.
DANIEL J. MILLER.
Sergeant July 17, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. COOPER.
Corporal July 22, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865,
JAMES W. RANDALL.
Corporal July 15, 1862; deserted Nov. 10, 1862,
JAMES ATKINS.
Corporal July 21, 1862; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
FRANK A. MYERS.
Corporal July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as pri
vate.
ALLEN F. SCHLEY.
Corporal July 15, 1862; promoted Second Lieutenant.
JONATHAN GRAY.
Corporal July 15, 1862; discharged.
FREDERICK J. MEIKEL.
Corporal July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865 as pri
vate.
ROBERT F. DAVIS.
Corporal July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CYRUS O. SACKETT.
Musician Aug. 6, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as
Prin. Musician.
THOMAS D. SMITH.
Musician July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS FITZGERALD.
Wagoner July 26, 1862; transferred to Engineer Corps
Aug. 10, 1864.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 325
PRIVATES.
GEORGE K. ALBRO.
July 29, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MELVILLE C. ALEXANDER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ISAAC AMOS.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal,
JERRY BARKER.
July 31, 1862; discharged March 26, 1864.
CHARLES BERG.
Aug. 4, 1862; died June 30, 1864; wounds.
THOMAS BEALE.
July 15, 1862; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., July 5, 1864,
JOHN F. BURNS.
July 18. 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES C. BUTLER.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JASPER N. BUTTERFIELD.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ANTHONY BRADEMEYER.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHRIS C. BRADEMEYER,
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY W. BUSCHER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; discharged.
WM. D. C. BRICKETT.
Aug. 6, 1862; killed at Resaca May 15, 1864.
JAS. W. BRUNGER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
WINFIELD S. BAKER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. BEALER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
HENRY CAYLOR.
July 17, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES L. CARTER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

326 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOHN D. CHARLES.
Aug, 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865,
CHAS, F. W. COOK.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE C. CAMPBELL.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOEL CONVERSE.
July 25, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOS. CLINTON.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant,
GEO. W. CAIN.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
GEORGE H. CRAIG.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
CHARLES H. COX.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; promoted Second Lieutenant.
JOHN W. DA VIES.
July 24, 1862; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
THOS. R. DAVIS.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM H. DEMMY.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865
JOHN M. DASHIEL.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES W. ETSLER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
JENKINS A. FITZGERALD.
July 21, 1862; promoted Ass't Surgeon.
WILLIAM FORSHA.
Aug. I, 1862; discharged.
DAVID B. FORSHA.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALBERT L. FERGUSON.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. GETTIER.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant,
GEORGE GEISENDORFF.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

327

DAVID HAMILTON.
July 27, 1862 ; deserted Feb. 6, 1863.
JAMES S. HARDIN.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY HEITKAM.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
EDWARD HIGDON.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WM. R. HUSHAW.
Aug. I, 1862; died at Lookout Valley, Tenn., March 31,
1864.
THOMAS B. HORNADAY.
July 16, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES W. JENKINS.
Aug. 6, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
AUGUSTUS J. KINNAN.
July 18, 1862 ; discharged.
JOHN B. KING.
Aug. 6, 1862; deserted Nov. 10, 1862.
CHARLES W. KNIGHT.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM W. LAING.
July 24, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. LAW.
1 July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOS. LANDORMIE.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE W. LOUCKS.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN D. LOWE.
Aug. 4, 1862. Discharged March 19, 1863.
WM. M'CUBBIN.
July 27, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 3, 1862.
HARVEY N. M'GUIRE.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL E. METTE.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

328 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ALVA C, MAY,
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
THEOPHILUS M'CLURE.
July 16, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM MILLER.
Aug. 6, 1862; discharged.
JOHN W. M'CONNELL.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant
JOHN L. M'CONNELL.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
REMUS OAKEY.
Aug. I, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
EDWARD OAKEY.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN W. PERKINS.
Aug. 5, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
PETER QUACKENBUSH.
July 28, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HIRAM R. RHODES.
July 28, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865,
JAMES M. RHODES.
July 28, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
EZRA ROSS.
July 28, 1862; kiHed June 15, 1864.
WM. H. ROBINSON.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
SAMUEL H. STEPHENS.
July 19, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN F. SHOEMAKER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps July 18, 1864
GEORGE SHOEMAKER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES SCHOTT.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DAVID SMITH.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 32(
JOS. B. SULGROVE.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOS. H. VANDERMAN.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FRANK W. WELLS.
July 15, 1862," mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE N. WELLS.
July 25, 1862 ; discharged.
SAMUEL WHITRIDGE.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES WHITE.
July 27, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as First Sergeant
JOHN WILSON.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
RECRUITS.
CHARLES M. ASH.
Sept. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN S. ASHER.
March 22, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
HENRY T. BEVAN.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JAMES BURK.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JOHN F. BRUNER.
Jan. 28, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
SAMSON BARBEE.
Dec. 30, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
WM. H. BRYANT.
Sept 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL A. DUZAN.
Aug. II, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL O. FLETCHER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
BENJ. F. KILGORE.
July 15, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS O'CONNOR
Jan. 18, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865

330 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOHN PARK.
AprH 4, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
ISAAC N. PROSSER.
Aug. 8, 1864 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN REESE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
WM. H. STEPHENSON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WM. D. STEELE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MATTHIAS STUCK.
Jan. 13, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865;
wounded at Peach Tree Creek.
JOHN S. SMITH.
Jan. 29, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HENRY TONEY.
Jan. 30, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ABRAHAM WAUGHTELL.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
THOMAS S. WELDON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ELIJAH WHITE.
Sept. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
COMPANY F.
H. M. ENDSLEY.
Captain, commissioned Aug. 8, 1862; Aug, 8, 1862; mus
tered out with the Regiment.
THOMAS B. CARY.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 8, 1862 ; Aug. 8, 1862 ;
resigned for good of the service Sept. 6, 1863.
GEORGE W. GRUBBS.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Sept. 7, 1863; Nov. 20,
1863; resigned Jan. 20, 1865, to accept appointment as
Major 42d Regiment U. S. Colored Troops.
ISHAM REED.
First Lieutenant, commissioned Jan. 21, 1865; March 27,
1865; mustered out with Regiment.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 331
COLEMAN F, STORMS.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Aug. 8, 1862; Aug. 8,
1862 ; resigned Feb. 6, 1863.
WILLIAM H. THOMAS.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Feb. 7, 1863; Feb. 26,
1863 ; resigned Sept. 6, 1863.
ISHAM REED.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned March i, 1864; March 7,
1864 ; promoted First Lieutenant.
JOHN S. PARKER.
Second Lieutenant, commissioned Feb. 11, 1865 ; March 27,
1865 ; mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM H. THOMAS.
First Sergeant July 23, 1862 ; promoted Second Lieutenant.
ISHAM REED.
Sergeant July 28, 1862 ; promoted to Second Lieutenant.
MOSES DENNEY.
Sergeant July 29, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as First
Sergeant.
CHARLES LUTHER.
Sergeant July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN S. PARKER. ,
Sergeant July 28, 1862 ; promoted Second Lieutenant.
ALFRED BARNGROVER.
Corporal Aug. 3, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as pri
vate.
GEO. W. DAWSON.
Corporal July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Ser
geant.
JAS. A. STORM.
Corporal July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Ser
geant.
GEO. W. COLCLASIER.
Corporal July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL BASSETT.
Corporal July 23, 1862 ; killed at Peach Tree Creek July 20,
1864.

332 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JAS. M. EADES.
Corporal July 23, 1862 ; wounded June 15, 1865 ; mustered
out June 8, 1865.
WM. T. DARGAN.
Corporal July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
A. J. HULSOPPLE.
Corporal July 23, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov, i,
1862.
HY. MENDENHALL.
Musician Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ISAAC STEELE.
Musician July 20, 1862.
JOS. C. JOHNSON.
Wagoner Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
PRIVATES.
JOHN W. ANDREWS.
July 28, 1862 ; killed in battle at Resaca May 15, 1864.
JOHN LEWIS ANDREWS.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FRANK ALEXANDER.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. M. ARTHUR.
July 28, 1862; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 15, 1863.
WM. J. ARTHUR.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
OLIVE J. BASSETT.
July 28, 1862 ; discharged Feb. 27, 1865.
DANIEL BARNGROVER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 29, 1864.
THOMAS BUSH.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; discharged Feb. 10, 1863.
TILMAN BUSH.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN COX.
July 23, 1862 ; killed at DaHas, Ga., May 25, 1864.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 333
A. A. COLCLASIER.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
PHILIP COLCLASIER.
July 23, 1862 ; discharged May 6, 1864.
ROLLY D. CLOUSIER.
July 30, 1862.
CHARLES W. CRODY.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEANDER COLLINS.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Aug. 10, 1863
HEZEKIAH CARPENTER.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; deserted Aug. 13, 1862.
GEO. G. DAVIS.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. H. DAVIDSON.
July 29, 1862; discharged May 6, 1863.
WM. DERICKSON.
July 28, 1862; discharged May 6, 1863.
W. W. DAY.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
A. H. DODD.
Aug. II, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY FISHER.
Aug. 6, 1862,
IRA FIELDS.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEVI GRIFFITH.
July 29, 1862 ; discharged Oct. 3, 1862.
ADAM GIRTON.
Aug. 6, 1862; deserted Aug. 14, 1862.
JOHN GOODRICK.
Aug. II, 1862.
JACOB HOWERY.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WM. HULSOPPLE.
July 23, 1862; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Aug. i, 1863
CHAS. HOWERY.
July 23, 1862 ; died at SaundersviHe, Tenn., Jan. 28, 1863.

334 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
WAT, C. HOWARD.
July 23, 1862 ; killed at Peach Tree Creek July 20, 1864.
DAVID S. HACKER.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM HACKER.
July 23, 1862; killed at Newhope Church June 15, 1864.
F. M. HUGHS.
July 25, 1862; deserted Sept. 13, 1862.
GEORGE W. HUGHS.
July 29, 1862 ; deserted Sept 23, 1862.
SYLVESTER HULTZ.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 16, 1862.
THOMAS HENRY.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; deserted Aug. 14, 1862.
WADDY HOOVER.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged June 8, 1865.
JEFFERSON HOSKINS.
Aug, II, 1862 ; discharged June 8, 1865.
JOHN M, IMIL.
July 26, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 19, 1864.
MICHAEL HILL.
July 23, 1862 ; deserted Aug. 14, 1862.
THOS. S. JOYCE.
July 23, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 16, 1862
J. J. JONES.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
D. C. KENNEDY.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
DALE KRITZER.
Aug. II, 1862; deserted Jan. 3, 1863.
JOS. K. KEELER.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. V. KING.
July 23, 1862 ; deserted Dec. 20, 1862.
JEROME MOORE.
July 23, 1862 ; discharged March 10, 1862.
NOAH MASSEY.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

33'.

D. O. MANN.
Aug. 7, 1862; discharged Dec. 10, 1862.
MATTHIAS M'KAY.
Aug. I, 1862
JAS. MILLER.
Aug. 9, 1862; deserted Aug. 13, 1862.
WM. M'BRIDE.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JASPER NICHOLS.
July 23, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., Feb. 22, 1863.
JEREMIAH ODELL.
July 23, 1862 ; killed at Kenesaw June 15, 1864.
WM. PORTER.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. PULLIAM.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. PATTERSON.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOHN ROBERTS.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WM. T. ROUSE.
July 28, 1862 ; killed at Dallas, Ga., May 27, 1864.
THOMAS ROSS.
July 23, 1862 ; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
PHILIP ROUSE.
Aug. II, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 16, 1862
JACOB REESER.
Aug. 5, 1862.
AL. W. REESER.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. STEWARD.
July 23, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Oct. 21, 1862.
JOHN STRINGER.
July 20, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
SAM STEWART.
July 23, 1862 ; discharged December 10, 1862.
F. J. SHOEMAKER.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

336 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
GEO. S. SPEAGLE.
July 23, 1862 ; died at Saundersville, Tenn., Dec. 19, 1862,
ALONZO SMITH.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ISAAC SHAW.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HARVEY STROUP.
Aug. II, 1862; deserted Aug. 13, 1862.
MARSHALL STODDARD.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; died at Scottsville, Ky., Nov. 26, 1862.
JOHN F. VANLUE.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; died at SaundersvHle, Tenn., Jan. 15, 1863.
LYCURGUS VICTOR.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JESSE WINTON.
July 23, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN WINTON.
Aug. 6, 1862; discharged Dec. 15, 1863.
JESSE WILLIAMS.
July 23, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOSEPH WOOD.
Aug. 4, 1862; discharged May 20, 1865.
DAVID WALKER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAS. WINTON.
Aug. 8, 1862; deserted Aug. 13, 1862.
AMOS WILLIS.
Aug. 9, 1862; deserted Sept. 13, 1862.
WILLIAM WHITEHEAD.
Aug. II, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant
RECRUITS.
MARION ALLEE, JR.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
THOMAS ALEXANDER.
Aug. 26, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. i, 1862
JOHN BRADY.
Sept. 8, 1862; died at Gallatin, Tenn., April 25, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 337
WILLIAM BALES.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 186;
JOSEPH N. BILL.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
WOODSON BRYANT.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAS. N. BOURNE.
March 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JEREMIAH BASSETT.
Dec. 16, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DAVID BADGLEY.
Dec. 15, 1863; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
STEPHEN H.i BALLARD.
Dec. 24, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WM. F. COLLINS.
Feb. I, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ANDERSON J. COLLINS.
Feb. I, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
GAMALIUS COLLINS.
Feb. I, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WM. DODSON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WM. ELLIOTT.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
LUKE GRIFFITH.
Sept. 8, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Oct. 15, 1862.
LEVI GRIFFITH.
Jan. 2, 1862 ; transferred to V. R. C. Sept. 26, 1863.
ERI A. GAMBOLD.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAS. F. HARDIN.
Feb. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DAVID HANSELL.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
THOMAS J. HOLDRAM.
Dec. 12, 1864 ; kiHed at Resaca May 14, 1864.
BENJ. JOHNSON.
Sept. 8, 1862 ; discharged March 19, 1864.

338 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
CHAUNCY KNOWLTON.
Feb. I, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN LEWIS.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
LINDSEY LAMB.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM M'GREW.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ARRIS M. MORLEY.
Feb. 12, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ANDREW MAY,
Dec. 15, 1863; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
GEORGE MILLER.
Dec. 15, 1863; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JOHN L. MESLER.
Jan. 24, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
LEVI C. MORLEY.
Jan. 23, 1864; deserted March 16, 1865,
PHILIP MILLER.
Aug. 26, 1863 ; discharged at Madison Feb. 20, 1864.
JAMES H. NAIL.
March i, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JOHN B. PRITCHARD.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
CHALMERS REED.
March 7, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JOSEPH H. SMITH.
March 21, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
WILLIAM STEWART.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HENRY SQUIRES.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
FRANCIS H. SIMS.
Jan. 28, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
BENJ. F. STEWART.
Feb. 12, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WM. F. SMITH.
Aug. 19, 1864; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 339
GEO. TINCHER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
BENJ. VANPELT.
Feb. 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MICHAEL P. VORIS.
Dec. II, 1862 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
COMPANY G.
PARKER S. CARSON.
Captain; commissioned Second Lieutenant recruiting offi
cer July 14, 1862; promoted Captain Aug. 7, 1862; mus
tered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JOHN M. WHITE.
First Lieutenant; promoted Ass't Surgeon Dec. 6, 1862;
died 1863.
THOMAS WEBB.
Second Lieutenant; promoted First Lieutenant Dec. 6,
1862; resigned June 13, 1863.
EDWARD S. SMOCK.
Orderly Sergeant; promoted Second Lieutenant Dec. 6,
1862; First Lieutenant June 13, 1863; wounded at Resaca,
Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged Nov. 4, 1864; disability.
JOSIAH LOWES.
First Sergeant ; promoted Orderly Sergeant Dec. 6, 1862 ;
Second Lieutenant June 13, 1863 ; killed by gunshot July
20, 1864, at Peach Tree Creek.
SOMERFIELD THOMAS.
Sergeant; promoted Ord. Sergeant June 13, 1863; Second
Lieutenant Dec. 17, 1864 ; First Lieutenant Jan. 24, 1865 ;
wounded May 15, 1865, at Resaca, Ga. ; mustered out with
Regiment June 8, 1865.
EDWARD KENTZEL.
Sergeant ; killed by cannon shot June 15, 1864.
JOHN S. MORRIS.
Sergeant; promoted Ord. Sergeant Dec. 7, 1864; Second
Lieutenant Jan. 24, 1865 ; mustered out with Regiment June
8, 1865.

340 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JOHN S. THOMAS.
Corporal; promoted Sergeant Dec. 6, 1862; killed May 15,
1864, at Resaca, Ga.
DANIEL W. LEAVITT.
Corporal ; promoted Sergeant June 13, 1863 ; died in hos
pital Oct II, 1864.
RICHARD FERREE.
Corporal; killed May 15, 1864, at Resaca, Ga.
WILLIAM H. M'LAUGHLIN.
Corporal; promoted Sergeant Sept, i, 1864; wounded July
20, 1864, at Peach Tree Creek
CAREY A. M'FARLAND.
Corporal ; discharged from hospital.
DAVID BREWER.
Corporal; promoted Sergeant Sept. i, 1864; discharged
from hospital.
DANIEL M. RANSDELL.
Corporal; wounded May 15, 1864, Resaca, Ga. ; right arm
amputated ; discharged March 10, 1865, Indianapolis.
ROBERT M. WILLIS.
Corporal; discharged Aug. 26, 1864, by special order of
Gen'l Thomas, Chattanooga, Tenn., to receive promotion in
Pioneer Corps.
JOSEPH EDWARDS.
Musician ; mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
WHARTON RANSDELL.
Musician ; discharged from hospital.
SAMUEL COLLY.
Teamster; mustered out with Company June 8, 1865
VALENTINE LEEPER.
Teamster; died at Acton, Ind., Oct. 11, 1864.
PRIVATES.
JOSEPH ALEXANDER.
Discharged from hospital.
HIRAM ADAIR.
Wounded June 15, 1864, by gunshot; died from wound
July 20, 1864, Nashville, Tenn.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 341
JOSEPH ADAIR.
Wounded June 15, 1864, by cannon shot; died from wound
June 19, 1864, Chattanooga, Tenn.
WILLIAM BRENTON.
KiHed by gunshot May 15, 1865, at Resaca, Ga.
ROBERT BUTCHER.
Wounded in right arm at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mus
tered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JOHN W. BARNETT.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
HOWARD BRUMLEY.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
ANDREW CARSON.
Wounded in face by explosion of shell June 15, 1864, at
Golgotha, Ga. ; mustered out with Company June 8, 1865,
ABSALOM CRUSE.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JOHN R. COPELAND.
Wounded in breast by spent ball June 19, 1864 ; mustered
out with Company June 8, 1865.
HENRY CLARY.
Wounded by shell at Golgotha, Ga., June 15, 1864; died of
woUnd June 20, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tenn.
GEO. W. CROSSON.
Promoted Corporal Sept. i, 1864; mustered out with Com
pany June 8, 1865.
GEORGE CALDWELL.
Promoted Corporal June 13, 1863 ; promoted Sergeant Dec.
17, 1864 ; wounded in head by shell June 15, 1864 ; mustered
out with Company June 8, 1865.
JAMES G. CLARK.
Promoted Corporal Sept. i, 1864; mustered out with Com
pany June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM T. CLARK.
KiHed by gunshot May 15, 1864, at Resaca, Ga.
THOMAS D. CAMPBELL.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.

342 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ELLISON CARR
Discharged on Surgeon's certificate of disability Aug. 12
1864, at Indianapolis.
WILLIAM DUNLAP.
Wounded in shoulder by gunshot May 15, 1864, at Resaca
Ga.
RICHARD DOBSON.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
THOMAS W. DUELL.
Wounded in side by shell June 15, 1864.
DAVID M. EDWARDS.
Discharged on Surgeon's certificate of disability June, 1863,
Nashville, Tenn.
JEREMIAH FEATHERSTONE.
Wounded at Golgotha, Ga., June 15, 1864; discharged
March 6, 1865 ; disability.
CHARLES N. FITZGERALD.
Died at Lavergne, Tenn., June 16, 1863.
ELIJAH FISHER.
Promoted Corporal Sept. i, 1864; mustered out with Com
pany June 8, 1865.
ISAAC N. FRED.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
THOMAS B. FOWLER.
Wounded in right arm at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; dis
charged Dec. 6, 1864, for disability from wound at Indian
apolis.
JOHN FOULK.
Killed by shell near Dallas, Ga., May 25, 1864.
DAVID GRUBE.
Wounded at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 1864; mus
tered out with Company June 8, 1865.
ALEXANDER GORDON.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM GWINUP.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 343
JAMES H. GIBSON.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mustered out with
Company June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL GIFFORD.
Deserted from Bowling Green, Ky., Nov., 1862.
SILAS S. HARRIS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; died of wound
Aug. 14, 1864, at Bridgeport, Ala.
JOHN HOLTON.
Discharged from hospital.
MARTIN M. HARLAN.
Wounded at Golgotha, Ga., June 15, 1864; died of wound
July 9, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tenn.
GEO. W. HARLAN.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JAMES HARRIS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mustered out with
Company June 8, 1865.
ALBERT HELMS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged for
disability by reason of wound Jan. 17, 1865, at Indianapolis.
THOMAS D. HARTMAN.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
GEO. M. JONES.
Died Nov. 8, 1862, at Bowling Green, Ky.
WILLIAM A. KUSER.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM R. LOWES.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
CHANCEY LEAVITT.
Killed in battle at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
GEO. W. LEWIS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged from
hospital.
JAMES H. M'LAUGHLIN.
Discharged for disability July 19, 1863, at Gallatin, Tenn,
VALENTINE M'MULLEN.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.

344 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
ROBERT S. MOORE.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864 ; mustered out with
Company June 8, 1865.
DANIEL MERRIMAN.
Discharged for disability at Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1863.
MOSES G. M'LAIN.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged August
18, 1864, for amputation of right arm at Indianapolis.
LYMAN MARTIN.
Died of consumption Nov. 10, 1863, at Murfreesboro, Tenn.
JOHN D. MOORE.
Deserted from Louisville, Ky., Aug. 16, 1862.
GEO. W. M'MILLEN.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mustered out with
Company June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM A. MARRS.
Promoted Sergeant July 22, 1862; transferred to non
commissioned staff.
ENOCH H. NELSON.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
DAVID W. PIERSON.
Wounded at Golgotha, Ga., June 15, 1864; discharged from
hospital, Indianapolis.
JOHN H. PEGGS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged from
hospital.
CHARLES W. RAWLINGS.
Discharged away from Company 1865.
WILLIAM T. RAWLINGS.
Discharged Feb. 18, 1863, for disability at Indianapolis.
BENJ. RANSDELL.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mustered out with
Company June 8, 1865.
THEODORE REYBOURN.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JAMES RUSSELL.
Discharged Dec. 6, 1862, for disability at Bowling
Green, Ky.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 345
LUTHER SYLVEY.
Discharged March 17, 1864, for disabHity at Nashville
Tenn.
JOHN T. SEELY.
Wounded at Golgotha, Ga., June 15, 1864; discharged be
cause of wound Nov. 25, 1864, at Indianapolis.
RICHARD SCANLAN.
Promoted Corporal Sept. i, 1864; mustered out with Com
pany June 8, 1865.
DAVID STOOPS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged because
of disability Dec. 7, 1864, at Indianapolis.
RICHARD M. SMOCK.
Wounded by gunshot June 16, 1864 ; transferred to Veteran
Reserve Corps AprH 24, 1865; discharged at Indianapolis,
June 30, 1865.
SAMUEL J. SMOCK.
Promoted Corporal and Sergeant, dates unknown ; wounded
at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 1864; wounded at
Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 15, 1864; discharged Sept. i, 1864, to
accept promotion.
JOHN THOMAS.
Discharged May 4, 1863, for disability at NashviHe, Tenn.
GEO. C. THOMPSON.
Promoted Corporal Sept. i, 1864; detaHed as Color Guard
Nov., 1864; discharged from general hospital, Albany N.
Y., June 8, 1865.
SHELTON THOMPSON.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
JAMES J. TOON.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
ADOLPHUS TOON.
Discharged March 19, 1863, for disabHity caused by acci
dental gunshot.
JAMES J. TOLIN.
Deserted from Indianapolis Aug., 1862; arrested July,
1863; deserted second time October, 1863, at Nashville,
Tenn.

346 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
HOWARD TODD
Discharged Feb. 9, 1863, by reason of disability caused
by accidental gunshot.
BENJ. VORHEES.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
IRA WILLIAMS.
Wounded by shell June 15, 1865, at Golgotha, Ga. ; mus
tered out with Company June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM WELLS.
Killed near Atlanta, Ga., Aug., 1864, by gunshot.
JOSEPH A. WHEATLEY.
Mustered out with Company June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM L. WENTZ.
Wounded by gunshot at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mus
tered out with Company June 8, 1865.
NELSON YOKE.
Mustered out with company June 8, 1865; detaHed as
Orderly at Big Headquarters. RECRUITS.
SAMUEL BARROW.
Discharged from hospital at Indianapolis.
ISAAC COOK,
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; died of wound
July 9, 1864, at Louisville, Ky.
WILLIAM H, FRED.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; discharged for
disability caused by wound March 18, 1865, at Indianapolis,
WILLIAM E. GORDON.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
FRANCIS M. HARTMAN.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL H. MOORE.
Discharged for promotion March 24, 1864 ; Adjutant 13th
Indiana Cavalry.
ROBERT A. MOORE.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER

347

JOHN W, REYNOLDS.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
BENJ. THOMAS.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; died of wound
June 21, 1864, at Resaca, Ga.
JOHN J. TURNER.
Wounded by gunshot June 22, 1864; transferred to 33d
Indiana June 8, 1865.
VETERANS AND RECRUITS.
Transferred to Company G, 70th Indiana, Nov. 15, 1864, from
27th Indiana.
JOSEPH RALLY.
Promoted to Ord. Sergeant March 28, 1865 ; transferred to
33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; Veteran.
FRANKLIN SHEIRMERSHEIM.
Promoted Second Sergeant Dec. 17, 1864; wounded at
Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Indiana
June 8, 1865.
AUGUSTE DONNERMAN.
Corporal ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JOHN W. LANSFORD.
Corporal ; wounded at Chancellors ville, Va., 1862, and at
DaHas, Ga., June 15, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana
June 8, 1865.
RHEINHART RICH.
Musician ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
PRIVATES.
JOHN ACKERMAN.
Wounded May 25, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June
8, 1865.
ANTHONY BARGER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JAMES BURTON.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.

348 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
EDWARD DUFFY.
Wounded at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862 ; transferred to
33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
CELESTINE ECKERTS.
Wounded Aug. 29, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June
8, 1865.
FREDERIC GETTER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JOHN E. GARDNER.
Wounded at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862; transferred to
33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
BENJ. F. KEMP.
Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863 ; transferred to
33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
DAVID B. KEMP.
Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863 ; transferred to
33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JACOB MATHAIS.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; wounded May
25, 1864.
JOSEPH RICE.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. STRINGER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
RANSOM H. WALLACE.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
COMPANY H.
AMBROSE D. CUNNING.
Captain; commissioned Aug. 12, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862;
mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM HARDENBROOK.
First Lieutenant; commissioned Aug. 12, 1862; Aug. 12,
1862 ; mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIS RECORD.
Second Lieutenant; commissioned Aug. 12, 1862; Aug. 12,
1862 ; resigned Dec. 21, 1864.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 349
LEROY S. HATLEY,
First Sergeant Aug. 2, 1862; promoted Second Lieuten
ant; commissioned Jan. 17, 1865; February 10, 1865; mus
tered out with Regiment.
ROBT. W M'NAUGHT.
Sergeant July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as pri
vate.
WM. H. BRADLEY.
Sergeant; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WM. F. GARRISON.
Sergeant ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as private.
JOHN F. FARR.
Sergeant Aug. 2, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 12, 1862.
JOSH POLLARD.
Corporal July 29, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 10, 1862.
WILEY BRAGG.
Corporal July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Ser
geant.
GEO. W. FLAKE.
Corporal Aug. 5, 1862; died at Nashville, Tenn., June 30,
1864; wounds.
WILLIAM H. GIBBS.
Corporal Aug. 2, 1862 ; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
WILLIAM OLDS.
Corporal Aug. 2, 1862; killed at Newhope Church June
IS, 1864.
D. P. KENNEDY.
Corporal Aug. 2, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865;
wounded at Newhope Church June 15, 1864.
ABRAHAM G. BUTTERFIELD.
Corporal Aug. 6, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov.
13, 1862.
PRESTON D. WAKELAND.
Corporal Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS W. ELEY.
Musician Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM W. WEAVER.
Musician July 28, 1862; kiHed near Resaca, Ga., May
14, 1864.

350 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
PRIVATES.
HEROD ATKINS.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN B. ASHER.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865 ; wounded near
Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864.
HENLEY ALBERTSON.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Oct. 28, 1862.
WILLIAM W. BEAN.
July 8, 1862 ; discharged March 12, 1863.
W. G. BAIN.
July 28, 1862; discharged Dec. 31, 1862.
MILTON BOYD.
July 29, 1862 ; killed at Dallas Woods, Ga., May 30, 1864.
WILLIAM H. BROWN.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HARRISON BURNS.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
ANDREW J. BURNS.
Aug. 12, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN BURNS.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; transferred to Eng. Corps Aug. 10, 1864.
LEVI BAKER.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; wounded at battle of Peach Tree Creek July
20, 1864 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. BURNS.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 3, 1863.
ISAAC BENGE.
Jan. 14, 1864; died at Lookout Valley May 4, 1864.
WILEY BURNS.
Jan. 28, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
H. C. BAKER.
Jan. 14, 1864; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
MILTON B. BISHOP.
Jan. 14, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865.
JAMES BALL.
Oct. 10, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 351
DAVID COOK.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 186";
HENRY B. COX.
July 29, 1862.
WM. S. CRAMER.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JEREMIAH COLLIER.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN CRANK.
July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HIRAM COX.
July 29, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOSEPH CLENDEMIM.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WM. L. COLLIER.
July 28, 1862.
OWEN COLLIER
Aug. 2, 1862.
WM. H. COSTIN.
July 27, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN M. CREED.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FRANK CHERLING.
Jan. 21, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DWIGHT H. DANE.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MARSHALL DANE.
July 21, 1862 ; died at Scottsville Feb. 6, 1863.
THOMAS DIXON.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal
BENONI N. DANE.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES E. DECOURSEY.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; died at ScottsvHle Dec. 10, 1862.
GEO. W. DENT.
Aug. 10, 1862; discharged Oct. 31, 1862.
DANIEL DAVIDSON.
Aug. 10, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

352 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
GILBERT EWING.
Dec. 31, 1863.
WILLIAM H. FOWLER.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
FREDERICK FUNK.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. FUNK.
July 18, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS C. FAITH.
Sept. I, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN F. GARRISON.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; discharged Aug. 27, 1863.
WILLIAM G. GARRISON.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant.
WILLIAM GLESSENER.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN H. GREGORY.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN GRAVES.
Jan. 14, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
GREENBERRY GRIFFEN.
Jan. 14, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HENRY HAYDEN.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
NATHAN T. HASTINGS.
Aug. 6, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN T. HAMMONS.
Aug. 10, 1862; wounded July, 1864; discharged Dec. i
1864.
WILLIAM D. HOWEL.
Aug. 12, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 6, 1862.
WILLIAM K. HASTINGS.
Jan. 14, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN HOWARD.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
LEE HAZELWOOD.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 353
WILLIAM R. HALE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
JAMES HATLEY.
Dec. 31, 1863; died at Lookout Mountain Aug. 10, 1864.
JOSHUA HAMMOND.
March 5, 1864; died in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 5, 1864.
WILLIAM H. HUSHAW.
Feb. 13, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN JUDSON.
Aug. 6, 1862.
JAMES H. JUDSON.
July 29, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS JACKSON.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 6, 1862.
DANIEL JARRET.
Jan. 16, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
ALFRED A. KECK.
Sept 1, 1862 ; discharged Sept 3, 1865.
JAMES M. LEWIS.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALEXANDER LONG.
March 5, 1864 ; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., Aug. 4, 1864.
GEO. LAWRENCE.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
FRANKLIN LAMAR.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
CALVIN MORGAN.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
ALEXANDER C. MYERS.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. MOSIER.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS MINTON.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. McGOWEN.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES M. McGOWEN.
Aug. 10, 1862; transferred to V. R. C. May 31, 1864.

354 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
SENECA S. MAJORS.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY H. MULLIS.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MICHAEL McKINNEY.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HARVEY NEWBORN.
Aug. 6, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THEODORE M. NANCE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
REUBEN NEWMAN.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DOUGLAS NARBEL.
Oct. 10, 1863.
HENRY C. OLDS.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 6, 1862.
DANIEL OLIVER.
July 26, 1862.
JOHN J. OLIVER.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMPSON PAYTON.
Jan. 14, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES PARSON.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HARVEY POMEROY.
July 29, 1862 ; deserted Sept. 28, 1862.
DAVID L. PEACOCK.
Aug. 6, 1862.
BENJ. S. ROBBINS.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant.
ELIS L. RAY.
July 22, 1862; died May 22, 1864; wound received at
Resaca, Ga.
CHARLES W. ROBERTS.
Aug. 4, 1862; died at Gallatin, Tenn., May i, 1863.
JOHN RULE.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 351
JACOB REEDY.
' Aug. 10, 1862 ; died at Washington, D. C, May 25, iSe"?.
SAMUEL V. SLACK.
Aug. 4, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS SINGLETON.
Aug. 4, 1862 ; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 10, 1864
MAISON O. SHIPLEY.
July 26, 1862; discharged Sept. 15, 1863.
DAVID SMITH.
Aug. 6, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
CHARLES SHELTMEYER.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JAMES SINGLETON.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; killed at Peach Tree Creek July 20, 1864.
JOHN SCOTT.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1864.
LEWIS P. STONE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1864.
JAMES W. TOUT.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; died at Gallatin, Tenn., May 24, 1863.
JOSEPH P. TROYER.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
OMAZIAH TACKET.
July 26, 1862.
JOHN THACHER.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; discharged March 3, 1865.
THOMAS J. TOWNSEND.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865 ; wounded,
DANIEL TAYLOR.
July 26, 1862.
JAMES THOMPSON.
Jan. 14, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865,
HIRAM VOYLES.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; died at Resaca, Ga., May 24, 1864.
ALBERT VOYLES.
Aug. 10, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.

356 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
MASON WARNER.
July 1 8, 1862; died Aug. 27, 1864; wound received near
Atlanta, Ga.
JESSE WILHITE.
Aug. 12, 1862; discharged March 12, 1863.
ROBERT WHEELER.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH WHITSON.
July 29, 1862 ; died at NashviHe, Tenn., Feb. 24, 1864.
WILLIAM S. WARTHERN.
Aug. 2, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEO. W. WARNER.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; discharged March 8, 1863.
ANDREW WHITE.
March 26, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
THOMAS WHITE.
March 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ROBERT S. WILSON.
March 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL F. WEBBER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
COMPANY I.
WILLIAM H. FISHER.
Captain Aug. 7, 1862; Aug. 12, 1862; resigned Feb. 24,
1864; went home from Stevenson, Ala., March 6, 1864.
JOHN W. THORNBURG.
Captain; transferred to Company I Nov. 14, 1864, from
the 27th Indiana ; mustered out with the Regiment.
THOMAS J. MORGAN.
First Lieutenant ; resigned April 2, 1864, to become Colonel
14th U. S. C. Infantry ; promoted Brigadier General.
STEPHEN W. DUNCAN.
Second Lieutenant; resigned April 3, 1863.
SAMUEL WESLEY MARTIN.
First Sergeant; promoted Second Lieutenant, First Lieu
tenant ; severely wounded May 14 at Resaca, Ga. ; mustered
out with Regiment,

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 357
GEORGE W. GRUBBS.
Sergeant; promoted Sergeant Major, First Lieutenant
Company F, Acting A. A. G. First Brigade; slightly
wounded at Peach Tree Creek; Major 42d U. S. C. In
fantry; stunned at Resaca, May 15, 1864, by a cannon ball.
JOHN E. CLELAND.
Sergeant ; promoted Second Lieutenant ; declined ; promoted
Adjutant, Captain 44th U. S. C. Infantry; prisoner of war
Oct., 1864. Acting A. A. G. Brigade Staff.
JOSEPH M. TILSON.
Sergeant ; promoted Second Lieutenant ; mustered out with
Regiment.
HENRY W. HENDERSON.
Sergeant ; discharged Aug. 5, 1863 ; disability.
JAMES H. METEER.
Sergeant ; promoted Captain 14th U. S. C. Infantry.
JAMES H. KELLY.
Sergeant; mustered out with Regiment as First Sergeant.
THOMAS H. DEER.
Sergeant; wounded Aug. 10, 1864, and died the 13th, near
Atlanta, Ga.
GEO. W. ADAMS.
Sergeant ; mustered out with Regiment.
J. F. VARNER.
Sergeant ; mustered out with Regiment.
JOHN W. STRICKLER.
Sergeant; on detail with General Slocum; mustered out
with Regiment.
JAMES T. KINNICK.
Sergeant; mustered out with Regiment.
GEO. A. COLEMAN.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment as private.
REDDING M. GARRISON.
Corporal; regimental P. M., Color Guard; mustered out
with Regiment.
WILLIAM B. KELLY.
Corporal ; discharged Dec. 13, 1862; disability.
ISAAC DUCKWORTH.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment as Teamster.

358 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
WILLIAM C. SANDEFUR.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment.
CLINTON R. SMITH.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment.
ANDREW J. JOHNSON.
Corporal ; slightly wounded June 25 at Kenesaw Mountain
and July 20 at Peach Tree Creek ; mustered out with Regi
ment.
ORLANDO M. MORRISON.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment June 8, 1865.
JERRY LONG.
Corporal; mustered out with Regiment.
FRANCIS M. TILSON.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment.
BENJ. N. ADAMS.
Corporal; kiHed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
CORNELIUS L. GARSHWILER.
Corporal ; mustered out with Regiment ; recruit.
LEWIS ANDERSON.
Musician ; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 2"}, 1863 ; body
sent home.
MARINE TILSON.
Musician ; mustered out with Regiment.
SIMON MINOR TILSON.
Musician ; mustered out with Regiment as Bugler.
PRIVATES.
NEWTON G. ADAMS.
Mustered out with Regiment ; had served in 7th Indiana,
SAMUEL E. ADAMS.
Mustered out with Regiment.
BETHUEL ADAMS.
Died at Saundersville, Tenn., Jan. 17, 1863.
JAMES ARCHBOLD.
Mustered out with Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM D. AMOS.
Mustered out with Regiment ; recruited Dec: 7, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 35c
HARLAN ANDERSON.
Transferred to 33d Indiana; recruit from 27th Indiana
IRWIN D. BAKER.
Mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM R. BANTA.
Mustered out with Regiment.
ALONZO N, BERGEN,
Mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM H. BISHOP.
Mustered out with Regiment.
MARTIN BEARD.
Discharged Oct. 27, 1862 ; disability.
BENJ. F. BROWN.
Died of wounds received at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
LEVI BURNETT.
Died at Hilton Head, S. C, Feb. 14, 1865.
HENRY S. BYERS.
Discharged May 15, 1863; disabHity; First Lieutenant in
I32d Indiana.
ADAM BIOUS.
Died at Washington, D. C, June 6, 1865 ; from 27th In
diana.
ALLEN BRYANT.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
PERRY BOOKER.
Discharged April 8, 1865 ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
SANFORD S. BOLDRY.
Mustered out with Regiment ; recruited Oct. 26, 1863.
JAS. M. CLEM.
Mustered out with Regiment.
THOMAS J. COOK.
Mustered out with Regiment.
GEO. COOK.
Discharged May 4, 1863.
JERRY M. COLEMAN.
Died July 7, of wounds received at Resaca, Ga., May 15,
1864.

360 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
DANIEL CRAWFORD.
Discharged Jan. 21, 1863; disability.
DAVID N. CRUTCHFIELD.
Mustered out with Regiment.
TISDALE E. CURRY.
Died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 25, 1862.
WILLIAM F. COX.
Mustered out April 8, 1865 ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
PHILLIPS COX.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
GEO. W. COONS.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
WILLIAM C. COMBS.
Died of wounds received at Kenesaw Mountain June 19,
1864; recruited Feb. 14, 1864.
JOSIAH DEER.
Discharged on account of wounds received at Elwood
Springs Sept. i, 1862.
CHRISTOPHER DOWDEN.
Died at Saundersville, Tenn., Jan. 27, 1863.
REECE DUNN.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JOSIAH DRAKE.
Mustered out with Regiment ; Brigade Carpenter.
GIDEON DRAKE.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; recruited Jan. 4,
1864.
DANIEL W. DUKE.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruited March 29, 1864.
WILLIAM ELGIN.
Promoted Chaplain 14th U. S. C. Infantry.
JAMES FEAR.
Mustered out with Regiment ; Company Cook.
WILLIAM FRED.
Discharged Dec. 15, 1862; disability.
HENRY A. FERRIS.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 361
JOSEPH M. FISHER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana; recruited March i, 1864.
GRANVILLE R. GRIFFITH.
Mustered out with Regiment.
WINSTON B. GARR.
Discharged Feb. 25, 1863 ; disabiHty.
JOHN GLASS.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruited Dec. 9, 1863.
JAMES R. HAMILTON.
Mustered out with Regiment ; Company Cook.
EBENEZER HARBERT.
Transferred to Pioneer Corps Aug. 10, 1864.
NATHAN HARRIS.
Transferred to Pioneer Corps Aug. 10, 1864.
JAMES H. HINKLE.
Died of wounds received at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
SAMUEL P. HOEFER.
Wounded June 15, 1864; discharged Dec. 6, 1864; had
served in the i8th Indiana.
JAMES W. HOWARD.
Drowned at Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 14, 1862.
WILLIAM HUGHES.
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps Sept. 15, 1863.
JAMES HUTCHISON.
Discharged Jan. 16, 1863 ; disability.
AARON W. HUTCHISON.
Mustered out with Regiment June 8, 1865.
FRANCIS M. HARPER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; recruited Sept,
21, 1863.
ISAAC N. HARPER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865; recruited Dec.
9, 1863.
JOSEPH C. HENDERSON.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; recruited Dec.
9, 1863.
REUBEN HOLBROOK.
Transferred to 33d Indiana; recruit from 27th Indiana.

362 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
BENJ. H. IRWIN.
Died of wounds received at Marietta, Ga., July 2, 1864 ; re
cruited Feb. 2^, 1864.
JOSEPH L. IRWIN.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruited February 2^, 1864.
GEO. B. ISRAEL.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruited Dec. 9, 1863.
HARRISON JACKSON.
Mustered out with Regiment June 8, 1864.
NATHANIEL L. JOHNSON.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JAMES S. KELLY.
Mustered out with Regiment.
ANDREW T. KELLY.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; wounded at Snake Creek Gap ;
recruited Dec. 7, 1863.
THOMAS C. MAPPIN.
Died of wounds received at Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864.
JOSEPH M. MAPPIN.
Mustered out with Regiment; had served in i8th Indiana.
TIPTON McAllister.
Died at Scottsville, Ky., Nov. 18, 1862.
JESSE C. McLEAN.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JAMES A. McKEEHAN.
Mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM G. McVEY.
Mustered out with Regiment.
HUGH McCRACKEN.
Discharged April 4, 1863 ; re-enlisted in 17th Indiana.
SAMUEL MITCHELL.
Killed at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
LEVI MOODY.
Mustered out with Regiment.
EUGENE A. MORGAN.
Transferred to 33d Indiana June 8, 1865 ; recruited Aug.
13, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 363
WILLIAM MUSTER.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
WILLIAM M. NEAL.
Mustered out with Regiment.
ALONZO OLMSTEAD.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
GEO. W. PARMER.
Died at NashvHle, Tenn., Nov. 9, 1863.
SAMUEL PATTERSON.
KHled at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864.
FRANCIS H. PATTERSON.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JOHN A. POOL.
Mustered out with Regiment.
WILLIAM H. QUINN.
Discharged May 15, 1865 ; disability.
JAMES M. QUINN.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JAMES M. RICHARDSON.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JOHN SILL.
Mustered out with Regiment.
JAMES W. Smith.
Mustered out with Regiment as Teamster.
CHARLES N. SMITH.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruited Dec. 7, 1863.
JAMES M. SMITH.
Discharged Feb. 16, 1863; disability.
JOHN A. STANFIELD.
Mustered out with Regiment ; served a time in Heavy Ar
tillery.
WILLIAM W. STEWARD.
Mustered out with Regiment.
ALEXANDER SUITOR.
Discharged March 7, 1863 ; disability.
GRIFFITH STRADLEY.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
JOHN W. SWINNEY.

364 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
Discharged Nov. 21, 1863; disability.
SAMUEL H. TETRICK.
Mustered out with Regiment ; Wagon Master.
JOHN A. TROUT.
Discharged July 28, 1863; disability.
ELIJAH VANARSDALL.
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps Jan. 15, 1865.
WILSON VAUGHT.
Wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; mustered out with
Regiment.
JOHN W. VAUGHT.
Killed at Kenesaw Mountain June 15, 1864.
ALLEN A. WALKER.
Mustered out with Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM M. WHITE.
Wounded at Kenesaw Mountain June 19, 1864; mustered
out with regiment.
WILLIAM WHITESIDES.
Discharged Jan. 21, 1863.
VOLNEY WALTON.
Transferred to 33d Indiana ; recruit from 27th Indiana.
COMPANY K.
SAMUEL MERRILL.
Captain Aug. i, 1862; Major AprH 11, 1863; Lieutenant
Colonel March i, 1864; mustered out with Regiment.
JAMES T. MATLOCK.
First Lieutenant Aug. i, 1862; Captain April 11, 1863;
wounded at Peach Tree Creek ; mustered out Oct. 25, 1864.
ORION A. BARTHOLOMEW.
Second Lieutenant Aug. i, 1862; First Lieutenant AprH
II, 1863 ; Lieutenant Colonel 15th U. S. C. I ; Colonel 109th
U. S. C. I.; Brevet Brigadier General.
THOMAS S. CAMPBELL.
First Sergeant July 25, 1862; Second Lieutenant April 11,
1863; First Lieutenant Sept. 19, 1864; mustered out with
Regiment.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 365
NATHAN A. SECREST.
Sergeant July 14, 1862 ; promoted Captain, then promoted
Major U. S. C. I.
WILLIAM H. KEMPER.
Sergeant July 19, 1862 ; Second Lieutenant Nov. 14, 1864 ;
mustered out with Regiment.
GEO. P. VANCE.
Sergeant July 30, 1862 ; discharged Aug. 26, 1863, to accept
commission in the Navy.
JOSEPH M. HARRISON.
Sergeant July 23, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 9, 1862.
CAS. T. CURTIS.
Corporal July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as First
Sergeant.
ANDREW GRAYDON.
Corporal July 14, 1862; Second Lieutenant ist U. S. Bat
tery Colored; Brevet Captain.
PARISH L. MAHEW.
Corporal July 15, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 21, 1863.
JAMES F. TOUT.
Corporal July 22, 1862 ; died at Saundersville, Tenn., Feb.
17, 1863.
FRANK GILLET.
Corporal July 15, 1862; discharged for promotion First
Lieutenant 14th U. S. Colored Infantry.
ROBERT W. CATHCART.
Corporal July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as
Sergeant.
JOSHUA C. HADLEY.
Corporal July 22, 1862 ; Second Lieutenant Jan. 24, 1865 ;
Captain April i, 1865 ; mustered out with Regiment.
ALBERT COLLIER.
Corporal July 22, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
THOMAS ANGLE.
Musician July 24, 1862 ; discharged Dec. 17, 1864.
NATHANIEL E. EUDALY.
Musician July 24, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.

366 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
GEO. W. KOONTZ.
Wagoner July 15, 1862; discharged Dec. 13, 1864; lost an
arm at Resaca. PRIVATES.
PERRY ABELL.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY C. ADAMS.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN A. ARBUCKLE.
Aug. 8, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
BENJAMIN F. ASKREN.
Aug. 7, 1862; discharged Dec. 12, 1864, on account of
wounds received at Resaca.
JAMES W. BLUE.
July 25, 1862 ; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., March 8, 1864.
RICHARD CARNES.
July 16, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 21, 1862.
GEORGE W. CARTER.
July 21, 1862; died at IndianapoHs July 16, 1864, from
wound received at Resaca.
SAMUEL R. CARTER.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; discharged Nov. 20, 1862.
JOSEPH B. CARTER.
Aug. II, 1862; died at GaHatin, Tenn., April 5, 1863.
JAMES H. CLARK.
Aug. 7, 1862; kiHed at Kenesaw June 22, 1864; Sergeant.
JOHN W. CLAYPOOL.
Aug. 8, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Sergeant.
NOAH CONSTABLE.
July 22, 1862 ; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 9, 1862.
ELISHA CRAWFORD.
July 24, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
NICHOLAS CROSSLY.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM CROSSLEY.
July 26, 1862; discharged Jan. 20, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 367
JOHN CUNNINGHAM.
July 25, 1862; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 13,
1864.
WILLIAM A. DILLEY.
July 26, 1862; died at SaundersviHe, Tenn., Feb. 20, 1863.
THOMAS N. DONLY.
July 26, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MARTIN ENGLEHART.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
EDWARD M. FITZGIBBON.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JONATHAN GORDON.
Aug. 4, 1862; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., July 28, 1864,
from wounds.
RICHARD GRAVES.
July 15, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LUNSFORD GRIFFITH.
Aug. II, 1862; transferred to Engineer Corps Aug. 29,
1864.
JAMES GREEN.
Aug. 17, 1862; discharged March 11, 1863.
MARTIN V. GRIFFITH.
Aug. 5, 1862; died May 24, 1864; wounds.
JAMES GROVES.
Aug. 7, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM GULLEY.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 22, 1863.
JOSEPH HAYDEN.
July 21, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 10, 1862
WILLIAM C. HIND.
July 26, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 22, 1863.
ARTHUR HOAGLAND.
July 17, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Sept 11, 1862.
WILLIAM E. HOWLAND.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
LEWIS A. JELF.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; discharged Oct. 18, 1863.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 36;
CHARLES POTTS.
July 25, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
AUGUSTINE S. POWERS.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HENRY PRITCHETT.
July 29, 1862; deserted Nov. i, 1863.
ALFRED E. PURCELL.
Aug. 9, 1862; killed at Resaca May 15, 1864.
GEORGE REDMOND.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES F. ROGERS.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
HARVEY B. ROGERS.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOHN RODGERS.
Aug. II, 1862; discharged June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
JOHN C. RUSSELL.
Aug. 9, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
ABRAHAM SEAY.
July 21, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN A. SEAY.
July 21, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN SEEKAMP.
July 30, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
BENJAMIN F. SOUTH.
Aug. 10, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES C. SPAULDING.
July 19, 1862 ; killed at Peach Tree Creek July 20, 1864
MARION SPRINGER.
Aug. 5, 1862 ; died at GaHatin, Tenn., Dec. 3, 1862.
JOHN S. STEPHENS.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; died at SaundersviHe, Tenn., Feb. 23, 1863.
JOHN STOOP.
Aug. 7, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN T. TALBOT.
July 19, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
WILLIAM F. TAYLOR.
Aug. 8, 1862 ; died at Saundersville, Tenn., Jan. 8, 1863.

37° THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
SIMEON TEMPLIN.
Aug. 9, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JAMES VAN SICKLE.
July 19, 1862; died at NashvHle, Tenn., Nov. 13, 1863.
DAVID WATSON.
July 31, 1862; died May 17, 1864; wounds received at
Resaca.
JASPER WATSON.
July 30, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
MARTIN V. WATSON.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865, as Corporal.
BENJAMIN F. WATTS.
July 26, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
GEORGE M. WILSON.
July 19, 1862; killed at Resaca May 15, 1864.
STEPHEN WOODRUFF.
July 19, 1862 ; discharged Jan. 28, 1865 ; wounds.
" RECRUITS AND VETERANS.
WASHINGTON AKESTOR.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ANDREW J. ARNOLD.
July 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
HENRY C. AUSTIN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN W. BISHOP.
April 4, 1863 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES M. BONNER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN B. BOYD.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES S. BOYD.
Jan. 8, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
ROBERT R. BRATTAN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DAVID BROWN.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

REGIMENTAL ROSTER 371
JEFIREY J. COX.
March 26, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
DANIEL CLAYTON.
July 28, 1862 ; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JESSE N. DICKERSON.
Sept. 6, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 10, 1862,
JOSEPH A. DAVIS.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES H. DOUGHERTY.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES EDWARDS.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DAVID EVERHART.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
WILLIAM P. ELLIS.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MARTIN V. GILLEY.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN JACKSON.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOSEPH R. JONES.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN B. JONES.
March 4, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MARION JONES.
Feb. 12, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN LATTIMORE.
Jan. 24, 1864; discharged Jan. 24, 1864, by order War
Department.
ROBERT R. MARSHALL.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JERRETT W. MARTESr.
Feb. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SHELBY MARTIN.
Sept. 12, 1861 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
MARION McADAMS.
Feb. 12,1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

372 THE SEVENTIETH INDIANA
JAMES MAXWELL.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
DANIEL MONAHAN.
March 3, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
PHILIP OSMON.
March 3, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
JOHN F. PALMER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
NELSON PURCELL.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JAMES L. B. SHEPHERD.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
NOAH P. STUKEY.
March 26, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865
WILLIAM STIPES.
July 28, 1862; mustered out June 8, 1865.
JOHN A. THOMAS.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JORDAN WELCH.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
JOHN G. WALLACE.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
SAMUEL S. WEAVER.
Jan. 24, 1864 ; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.
CHARLES C. WEAVER.
Jan. 24, 1864; transferred to 33d Regiment June 8, 1865.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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