Colonel Foster accompanied the expedition of General Burnside in the
movement on East Tennessee, at times commanding brigades and even
divisions. Just before tendering his resignation he was recommended
for a brigadier-general's commission by Generals Burnside and Grant.
Important business relating to his father's estate demanded immediate
attention, and forced his resignation. The army and the country alike
regret his retirement to private life.
VIII
WITH THE HUNDRED DAYS MEN
About three months elapsed after my return home from the East Tennessee
campaign when a new appeal was made to me to reënter the military
service. General Sherman was assembling at and near Chattanooga an
army to make his great drive on Atlanta and into the very heart of
the rebellion. To succeed in his decisive movement he had to draw
his supplies from north of the Ohio River over a single long line of
railroad communication, reaching from Louisville through the States
of Kentucky and Tennessee to Chattanooga, and beyond as his army
advanced. This line of supplies was mainly through hostile territory,
and every part of it had to be guarded by armed soldiers. In order
to give Sherman every possible trained soldier to swell his army so
as to make the movement a success, it was determined to send all the
soldiers then guarding this line of railroad to the front, which would
prove a large addition to the fighting force of Sherman's army, and to
replace them as guards with new recruits, who could be effective behind
intrenchments and when on the defensive. Accordingly the Governors of
the States of the Middle West made a call upon their several States for
regiments of volunteers to serve for one hundred days, the estimated
period of Sherman's campaign to Atlanta.
The call upon the State of Indiana was responded to with alacrity,
and within a few days several regiments were formed and in a short
time made ready for service. It was the desire of Governor Morton to
have these raw recruits commanded, as far as possible, as colonels and
other staff officers, by men who had already seen service and were
experienced in actual fighting. One of these regiments, largely made
up from Evansville and the adjoining counties, expressed a strong
desire that I might be appointed to command them, and this action was
followed by a telegram from Governor Morton tendering me a commission
as colonel, and making a strong appeal to me to again give my services
to the country in this great emergency.
I confess the call did not strongly appeal to me from a military
viewpoint, as the contemplated service did not promise any distinction
in warlike operations; but on the other hand, it was a service which
would be just as useful in promoting Sherman's success as if we should
be sent to the front and take part in the actual fighting, for without
this line of communication for supplies being maintained his campaign
must assuredly prove a failure. I recalled the fact in ancient history
that the greatest of Hebrew generals, following the well-recognized
rules of warfare, insisted on giving to those who guarded the camp and
protected the line to the rear the same honor and emoluments as those
who did the fighting. The Scriptural historian has preserved King
David's words: "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall
his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike." So
important did he deem this principle that the historian records that
"from that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel
unto this day."
I had made much progress in the business of settling my father's
estate, the cause of my previous resignation, and having secured my
wife's consent to my reënlistment, there seemed to be no good reason
for not responding to the call of the Governor and my townsmen and
neighbors, and within three days after tender of my commission I was on
the way to put myself at the head of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth
Indiana Infantry Volunteers. I have indicated that the character of the
service to which we were to be assigned, the guarding of the railroad,
did not promise any brilliant military exploits, and the extracts
which I shall make from my letters may not be found of much interest,
but they will at least set forth the manner in which we filled up our
Hundred Days' service in the cause of our country.
The One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Indiana was mustered into service May
23, 1864, at Indianapolis, and passed through Louisville. My letter of
the 31st states:--
"We left Louisville on Saturday morning, and I stationed the companies
along the railroad from Shepardsville to Nolin, ten miles below here
(Elizabethtown) on the railroad. I had hardly got the companies
distributed, selected my headquarters here, and got my dinner, before
the train arrived from Nashville bringing an aide to Major-General
Rousseau, who was on the hunt for the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth
Indiana, which should go to his command in Tennessee, but he saw by
the Louisville papers that it had been stopped, and would go along
the railroad. The aide had orders for me to go direct to Nashville at
once, disregarding all orders from all sources but the War Department;
but as General Burbridge had ordered me to come here, and as I was
in his district, and was guarding important bridges which should not
be abandoned, I decided to wait until the generals should get their
conflict in orders adjusted. We have been waiting in doubt as to our
future for two days; meanwhile the generals had been telegraphing with
each other and with me, until last night I received orders to go to
Nashville as soon as transportation was provided. How soon the cars
will be ready to take me down I do not know."
Within two days we arrived in Nashville whence my letter of June 4
says:--
"I wrote you a note yesterday that we would go to Murfreesboro. I went
down there yesterday and returned this morning. I will be off for that
place again in an hour with three companies. The rest of the regiment
will follow to-night and in the morning. We shall not be quite so well
situated there as we were at Elizabethtown, nor for that matter as
comfortably situated as _at home_, but I think we can get through the
one hundred days there at least tolerably _safely_, which is the great
point with you, is it not? Uncle Tom arrived here yesterday from the
Sixty-fifth in poor health. I have been hunting for him this morning,
but have not as yet been able to find him."
This last refers to Colonel Johnson, of whom I have made reference
in previous letters. Three times he had been granted furlough on
account of ill-health, but with the grim determination of a martyr, he
persisted in his effort to remain with his command, at that time at the
front with Sherman's army.
In my letter of June 8, I give an account of our camp and surroundings
at Murfreesboro:--
"When we arrived here the general directed me to camp the regiment
in the fortress, a large and very strong series of earthworks and
rifle-pits, built by Rosecrans's army after the battle of Stone River.
The enclosures are large, open spaces, without a particle of shade or
grass, entirely exposed to the sun. The troops already in the fortress
have erected tolerably comfortable barracks, but there was no material
out of which to make any more; and as our men had nothing but shelter
tents, I was afraid if put into such a camp the exposure would bring
on sickness. So I rode all round the vicinity of the town and found
several very good camping-places, and induced the general to let us
camp out of the fortress, in such suitable place as I might select. I
found a very fine camp in a beautiful grove just at the edge of the
town, and adjoining a very fine spring of water, which pleases officers
and men very much. Two companies are stationed below on the railroad,
and we shall have eight companies here, making a very respectable
battalion.
"How long we will remain here is very uncertain, but we shall be very
well satisfied to stay here during the remainder of our one hundred
days. Since we went into camp I have been putting the regiment through
in drill and duties of soldiers, keeping officers and men quite busy.
Besides these drills, Lieutenant-Colonel Walker drills the officers an
hour, and I have two recitations of officers an hour each in Tactics
and Regulations. In the evenings after supper I give them a lecture
on the Army Regulations, organization, and military customs, which is
quite as profitable to me as to them, as it requires considerable study
and posting on my part. We had our first battalion drill to-day and it
proved quite interesting. At the present rate of daily duties in one
month I shall have the regiment in a condition to compare favorably
with the veteran regiments in drill at least. I want to bring them home
well drilled and thoroughly instructed in the duties of the soldier.
I have the reputation of being a strict disciplinarian, but I think
the officers and the intelligent men appreciate it. The exercises not
only make them better soldiers, but the active service makes them more
healthy than to lie idle in camp.
"Our camping-ground is on the lawn in front of one of the finest houses
in the State. The surroundings were before the ravages of war very
beautiful. The house was the headquarters of the rebel General Bragg,
before he fell back after the battle of Stone River. The owner was
formerly quite wealthy, the possessor of a large plantation here and
one in Mississippi. He is now keeping a store in town for the support
of his family, reaping the reward of the rebellion of himself and
relatives."