Defense of the Conduct of the German Regiments at Hartsville
-- To the Memory of Captain W. Y. Gholson -- Colonel Toland
vs. Contraband Whisky.
Camp near Gallatin, Tenn., _December 14, 1862_.
After a careful investigation of the facts relative to the late fight
at Hartsville, having visited the battle-field, and having conversed
with numerous officers and privates who were wounded in that
engagement, I am satisfied that gross injustice has been done the
noble raw recruits of the 106th and 108th Ohio Regiments. I am not
biased in the least on account of their being Cincinnati men, although
I confess to a city pride; and I feel the greatest satisfaction in
telling you that those regiments acted in the most heroic manner. That
a few acted cowardly and shirked their duty, there is no doubt; but
that the entire regiments should bear the blame is very hard.
I notice the Louisville _Journal_ is particularly severe on the men
and officers; and, also, that W. D. B. "pitches in," and terms them
"Scott's Cowardly Brigade."
W. D. B. goes into _minutiae_ in regard to Scott, who, he says,
commanded. He is entirely mistaken. Scott, finding the place a
dangerous one, requested, a week previously, to be allowed to rejoin
his regiment, and his request was granted. The Scott who had command,
and was relieved, belonged to Turchin's old regiment, and was their
Lieutenant-Colonel. Scott told Colonel Moore of the dangers of the
post, and Colonel Moore, feeling his weakness, protested against being
left there. The fault lies beyond these new regiments.
Why were three regiments of raw recruits placed in such a dangerous
position, with but two guns and a handful of cavalry? As soon as the
fight began, a courier was sent to Castilian Springs, a distance of
only five miles, for reinforcements. The brigade was sent, but arrived
too late. Instead of marching by column, on a double-quick, these men
were deployed as skirmishers. The 106th and 108th Ohio and 104th
Illinois held the ground for full two hours, until completely
surrounded and driven to the brink of the river, where another large
force of rebels awaited them. Yet these undisciplined men are called
cowards--these men, who bravely held the ground, against odds of three
to one, against the disciplined rebels belonging to the 2d and 9th
Kentucky, and under the immediate command of Morgan! Yet these men are
to bear the disgrace and receive the anathemas of the press, in order
to shield some imbecile officer!
I paid a visit to the hospital to-day, and I tell you it was a
pitiable sight to see a large room crowded with the gallant wounded.
They told me they didn't care for the wounds, but to be so maligned
was more than they could bear. One noble fellow read the remarks of
the Louisville _Journal_, and the big tears rolled down his manly
cheek, as he made the remark to me, "GOOD GOD! _is that all the thanks
we get for fighting as we did?_"
Newspapers may publish what they please, but here is a fact that
speaks loud in praise of the daring Ohio boys, and proves that the
106th and 108th fought well: it is, that Company G, of the 106th, lost
every commissioned officer, two sergeants, one corporal, and twelve
privates.
Colonel Moore, Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman, and Major Wiedman refused
to be paroled.
Lieutenant Gessert, of the 106th, tells me he was present, a week
since, when a colored boy came to Lieutenant Szabo, of the 106th, who
was on picket. The boy stated that he overheard Morgan tell his master
he was laying a plan to "capture them d----d Cincinnati Dutch within
three days." The boy was sent to head-quarters, where he repeated his
story, but no notice was taken of it.
To-day, Dr. Dyer, surgeon of the 104th Illinois, who went over the
field directly after the fight, and assisted in dressing the wounds of
our men, handed me a green seal ring belonging to Adjutant Gholson.
The rebels had stripped the body of boots, coat and hat, and, fearing
this ring would be taken, the Doctor placed it in his pocket.
The Doctor says a rebel captain took a fancy to his (the Doctor's)
hat, and insisted upon buying it--swore he would shoot him if he
didn't sell it; and told him he went in for raising the black flag on
the d----d Yankees.
The Doctor quietly went on with his work, attending to the wounded,
while the rebel captain was robbing the dead.
I telegraphed you in regard to Adjutant Gholson's death. He died
heroically leading his command. His praise is upon every tongue. I
will send his body home on to-day's train.
Alf.
The lines following are a touching tribute to the memory of one of the
noblest young men sacrificed in the war. Captain Gholson was a brave,
earnest, talented, honorable man, in whose death his many friends feel
a sorrowing pride:
TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN W. Y. GHOLSON.
'Neath Western skies I'm dreaming,
This drear December morn,
Of joys forever vanished,
Of friendships rudely torn;
Of the friend so lately taken
From the heartless world away;
Of the well-beloved warrior
Now sleeping 'neath the clay.
The links of youthful friendship,
Unsullied kept through years,
Grim Death hath rudely shattered--
Ay, dimmed by Memory's tears.
Thou wilt be missed sincerely
By the well-remembered band,
Who've proved, through endless changes,
United heart and hand.
Thy mother's pain and anguish
Through life will never cease;
The grief she's now enduring
No earthly power can ease.
A father mourns the idol
Which God hath taken home,
Hath borne to sunnier regions,
Where guardian spirits roam.
And for the grieving sister,
Whose joyous days are o'er,
There cometh gleams of sunshine
From yonder golden shore.
From the throne of God eternal,
Where the angel roameth free,
_He_ speaketh words of music
To parents dear, and thee.
To friends and weeping kindred
He speaketh words of cheer:
"Be ye prepared to meet me,
Prepared to meet me here."
Lizzie A. F.
COLONEL TOLAND vs. CONTRABAND WHISKY.
"Volunteer" told me a good story of one of the gallant 34th Ohio and
Colonel Toland.
During their stay at Barboursville, the Colonel noticed, one day, an
extraordinary number of intoxicated soldiers in camp. Where they
obtained their whisky was a mystery to the command. The orders were
very strict in regard to its prohibition. After considerable effort,
the Colonel succeeded in finding out the guilty party. The culprit had
a little log hut on the banks of the Guyandotte River, and was dealing
it out with a profuseness entirely unwarranted. The Colonel sent his
orderly for Corporal Minshall, of Company G. On his arrival, the
Colonel said:
"Corporal, you will take ten men, sir, and go to the whisky-cabin on
the banks of the Guyandotte, seize all the whisky you find, and pour
it out."
"All right," said the Corporal; "your order will be obeyed forthwith."
The Corporal got his men together, and ordered them to string all the
canteens they could find around their necks. On arriving at the cabin,
they seized upon and "poured out" the whisky. After a thorough
loading-up, the Corporal returned and reported at head-quarters.
"You poured it out, did you?" inquired the Colonel.
"Yes, sir," categorically replied the Corporal.
The Colonel noticed a canteen about the Corporal's neck, and thought
he smelled something, and, looking him steadily in the face, repeated:
"You poured it out, sir, did you?"
"Yes, sir," emphatically replied the Corporal.
"And where did you pour it, sir?"
"In our canteens, Colonel," he replied.
For a moment his eyes flashed with anger; but, on second thought, the
joke struck him as being too good, and the pleasant smile so
characteristic of the Colonel wreathed his face in a moment.
"Well, Corporal," continued he, "I suppose that is some of the
'poured-out' in your canteen, eh?"
"Yes, sir," he replied, with the utmost _sang froid_, and, at the same
time, gracefully disengaging the strap from his neck, said, "Won't you
try some, Colonel?"
"I don't care if I do," said the Colonel; whereupon he imbibed,
saying, as he lowered the vessel, "Not a bad article--not a bad
article; but, Corporal, next time I send you to pour out whisky I will
tell you _where_ to pour it."