A Trip into the Enemy's Country -- The Rebels twice driven
back by General Steadman -- Incidents of the Charge of the
1st Tennessee Cavalry, under Major Tracy -- The 35th and 9th
Ohio in the Fight -- Colonel Moody and the 74th Ohio --
Colonel Moody on the Battle-field.
A TRIP INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.
Triune, Tennessee, _March 8, 1863_.
After a four-days' trip, without tents, we are once more in camp. Last
Tuesday afternoon General Steadman ordered Colonel Bishop, of the 2d
Minnesota, to take his regiment, a section of the 4th Regular Battery,
under Lieutenant Stevenson, and six hundred of Johnson's 1st East
Tennessee Cavalry, and proceed forthwith to Harpeth River.
Anticipating a fight, I went with the detachment. As we passed through
Nolinsville and Triune the few butternut inhabitants gazed with
apparent envy at our well-clad soldiers. About nine o'clock at night
we reached the river. Here the infantry bivouacked for the night; the
artillery planted their pieces in eligible positions, while the
cavalry crossed the river and commenced to search for rebel gentry who
were supposed to be on short leave of absence at their homes. Quite a
number of _citizen_ soldiers were thus picked up. Major Tracy, of the
cavalry, then proceeded, with a dozen men, to the residence of
General Starnes, and surrounded it, hoping to find the General at
home. But the bird had flown the day previous. The Major, however,
being a _searching_ man, and full of inquiry, looked under the beds,
and in the closets, and asked who was up-stairs. "No one," was the
reply, "but my brother, and he has never been in the army." Major
Tracy took a candle, went up, saw the young man, and asked where the
man had gone who had been in bed with him. The young man protested no
one had been there, and Mrs. Starnes pledged her word, on the "_honor
of a Southern lady_," that there was no one else in the house. But
Tracy turned down the sheets, and, being a discerning man, discovered
the imprint of another person in the bed, and, from the distance they
had slept apart, he felt sure it was not a woman. So telling Mrs. S.
he hadn't much faith in the honor of a Southern woman, under such
circumstances, he thought he would take a peep through a dormer-window
that projected from the roof; there, sure enough, sat Major Starnes, a
son of the rebel general, in his shirt-tail, breeches and boots in
hand, afraid to stir. It was a bitter cold night, and the poor fellow
shook like an aspen leaf. He presented at once a pitiable yet
ludicrous aspect. After collecting some twenty or thirty horses, they
returned to their head-quarters, this side of the river. At night, not
relishing the thought of sleeping on a rail, I had the good fortune of
sharing a bed with Lieutenant Stevenson, who commanded the battery.
As we anticipated, an early "_reveille of musketry_" awoke the party,
and mounting my sorrel Rosenante, I proceeded to investigate "why we
do these things," or to learn what the _quarrel is all about_.
Crossing the river, I caught up with Major Tracy just as he was
returning from his expedition to General Starnes's house. It was about
eight o'clock as we came in sight of College Grove, a little village
about a mile beyond Harpeth River. Here we turned toward Triune, and
had left College Grove half a mile to the rear, when we heard the
rebels firing upon a few stragglers of the Tennessee Cavalry. Major
Tracy promptly countermarched his battalion, which was in the rear,
and double-quicked back to the school-house at the town, and within a
hundred yards of the rebel cavalry, who were drawn up in a line, in
the front and rear of some houses, on the right of the road. The
Major, seeing they outnumbered him two to one, halted, and sent word
back to Major Burkhardt to reinforce. He then formed a line of battle
across the road, awaiting the other battalion. Just as it arrived,
Major Tracy thought he saw signs of wavering in the rebel line, and
immediately ordered Squadron E to "Forward, by platoons! Double-quick!
Charge!" and galloping to the front, along with Lieutenant Thurman,
away they go. The rebels waver, break, and now comes the chase. The
Major gains upon their rear, and brings rebel No. 1 to the dust, by
the aid of a Smith & Wesson revolver. The Major, now wild with
excitement, threw his cap in the air, and, hallooing for the boys to
follow, continued the chase. The race was fully a three-mile heat, in
which we captured fifty-nine rebels. Thirteen were _wounded by the
saber_, four very severely. There were not more than fifteen or twenty
of our men close on their rear at one time, and as the rebels turned
out on the road-side to surrender, the Tennessee boys never stopped to
make sure of them, but yelled to them to drop their guns and dismount,
and if they stirred before they returned, they would murder them.
After going as far as the few thought it safe, they returned to camp,
bringing the prisoners, horses, and various implements of warfare,
"sich" as fine English shotguns and the like.
This was certainly one of the most gallant affairs of the season, and
may be considered among the most successful charges of the war; for,
while not a man of ours was injured, fifty-nine rebels were taken, and
I saw more saber cuts that day than any time since I have been with
the army.
At noon, General Steadman arrived with the 35th and 9th Ohio, together
with another section of battery, under Lieutenant Smith, commanding
Company I, 4th Regular Artillery, and the whole brigade moved at once
across the river, and marched out in search of the enemy. We soon came
upon their picket-fires, the pickets having skedaddled. We rested for
the night at Riggs's Cross-roads, and continued the march in the
morning. By nine o'clock we met the rebels, drawn up in line of
battle, about a mile north of Chapel Hill. The Tennessee Cavalry were
in the advance; General Steadman and staff occupied the crest of a
hill, in full view of the rebels, and where we all could see the
movements of the butternuts; the 9th Ohio arriving, was immediately
deployed to the right, the 2d Minnesota and 35th Ohio and 87th Indiana
to the left, the battery taking the center. The rebels, consisting of
two thousand five hundred of Van Dorn's forces, ran helter skelter
through Chapel Hill, and turned to the left--the Tennessee Cavalry
again proving their valor by sabering half a dozen of the 7th
Alabamians. The rebels, as they retreated across Spring Creek, formed
a line, and gave us a brisk little brush; but our men steadily
advanced, driving them back, and, crossing the creek, were in their
late camp. We skirmished and drove them some three miles beyond the
river, and found we were within one mile of Duck River, eleven miles
within and beyond their line. Not knowing what forces might come to
their aid, the General did not further pursue them; but, on returning,
we destroyed their camp, setting fire to all the houses and large
sheds they had been using for shelter. A church, among the rest, was
destroyed, as it had been used by rebel officers for head-quarters. On
the return, a great many colored men, women, and children begged to be
allowed to come with us.
To-day, (the 8th,) Sabbath devotions were disturbed by General
Steadman ordering the 35th Ohio and a section of battery, under
Lieutenant Rodney, of the 4th Artillery, to feel the rebels at
Harpeth; so again I thought I might catch an item, and went to the
front. The impudent scamps had crossed, and were within four miles of
our camp. The Tennessee Cavalry drove them back across the river. The
rebels occupied a hill on the opposite side, adjoining the residence
of Doctor Webb. After several little brushes by cavalry, our artillery
opened upon the line formed by two thousand six hundred rebels, under
Patterson and Roddy, of Van Dorn's division, who were supported by two
regiments of infantry. They stood but two rounds from the Napoleons,
before moving off in disorder. Our line advanced, when, much to our
astonishment, the rebels opened up a battery from in front of Doctor
Webb's house, which was sharply replied to by Lieutenant Rodney, who
sent his compliments to the "gay and festive cusses," inclosed in a
twelve-pounder, and directed to Doctor Webb's house; it was safely
_delivered_, as we saw it _enter the house_. Again their four-pounder
belched forth, and one of their shots fell directly in front of the
35th Ohio ambulance, but luckily it did not burst. After holding our
position four hours, and driving the rebels back to their dens, we
returned to camp.
COLONEL MOODY AND THE 74th OHIO.
In the fight at Murfreesboro, General Rosecrans said the 74th Ohio
behaved nobly. After General McCook's right had been turned, the whole
rebel force came against General Negley's division, to which this
regiment belongs. After the 37th Indiana had retired, it being
terribly cut up, the 74th was ordered to take its place amid such a
shower of shot and shell as has scarcely fallen during the war.
This regiment did not leave its position until an order came from
Colonel Miller, commanding the brigade; then, slowly and stubbornly,
it came from that well-fought field, leaving many of its members, "who
never shall fight again," dead upon it. On the Friday following that
bloody Wednesday, they were "in at the death," in the triumphant
charge of our left. Its commander, Colonel Moody, is "the fighting
Parson" of the Cumberland Army. Calmly and steadily he led his men
into the seven-times heated furnace of battle, and,
"As the battle din,
Came rolling in,
his voice of cheer and encouragement was heard above its roar. Just
before they came into the whizzing storm, he said: "Say your prayers,
my boys, and give them your bullets as fast as you can." A conspicuous
mark, he was struck by balls in three places, and his horse shot from
under him; but he took no notice of the hits. Once, during the
thickest of the fight, he rode along the line, and was cheered by his
men even in the roar of battle.
Side by side with Colonel Moody rode, during both battles, the gallant
Major Bell, the new field-officer of this regiment. Ohio's 74th is
justly proud that she has the experience of a gray-headed Colonel
united with the "dash" of a young Major. This regiment has won for
itself a place among the "crack" regiments of our army; and General
Rosecrans told it to-day that he would have to call it "the fighting
regiment."
COLONEL MOODY ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.
The Ohio _Statesman_, speaking of Colonel Moody at the late battle at
Murfreesboro, has the following:
"Colonel Moody has been so long accustomed to 'charge home' upon the
rebellious 'hosts of sin,' from the pulpit, that he finds himself in
no uncongenial position in charging bayonet upon the rebellious hosts
of Davis and the Devil upon the battle-field. And, as in the former
position he ever acquitted himself right valiantly, so, in this
latter position, he is equally heroic and unconquerable.
"His escape from death in the late fight was so wonderful as to seem
clearly Providential. His friends and members of his church in
Cincinnati had presented him with a pair of handsome revolvers. One of
these he wore in the breast of his coat during the fight. A
partially-spent Minie-ball had struck him on the breast, pierced his
coat, and, striking the butt of his pistol, splintered it to pieces
directly over his heart, _but went no further_. The stroke was so
violent as to hurl him from his horse by the concussion, and he lay,
for a moment, insensible. Consciousness soon returned, and, mounting
his horse, he raged on through the battle like an enraged lion. He won
the most hearty congratulations from General Rosecrans himself. So
much for having one's life saved by a _bosom_ friend."